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| Comparison of Rafale M and F/A-18 Super Hornet, Aircraft Carrier-Based Champion Fighter |
International Military - Dassault Rafale M and McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets are known as carrier-based aircraft champions. Both of these fighter jets are designed to be able to take off and land on aircraft carriers.
The Dassault Rafale literally means "wind gust" or "fire burst" is a twin-engined, canard-delta-wing multirole fighter aircraft, made by French Dassault Aviation. The aircraft is available in three main variants, namely the single-seat land-based Rafale C, the twin-seat land-based Rafale B and the single-seat carrier-based Rafale M.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet is a carrier-operated variant of the twin-engine multirole fighter. The F/A-18E single-seat version and the F/A-18F tandem-seat variant of the F/A-18C and D Hornet with larger aircraft dimensions.
The latest version, the F/A-18E/F Block III Super Hornet is designed as a carrier-based fighter for high load, high pressure operations. It requires little support equipment and has the lowest flight hour cost to operate its high mission level.
Abhirup Sengupta, an aviation expert from India, said it was difficult to compare the capabilities of the two fighter aircraft. Both the Rafale M and the F/A-18 Super Hornet have specific advantages. “There is no big difference in their overall performance. The main advantage of the F/A-18 Super Hornet is that it provides the same performance at a much lower cost,” he was quoted as saying by Theaviationgeekclub.
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| Rafale M and F/A-18 Super Hornet |
1. Dassault Rafale Marine
The Dassault Rafale M is a twin-engine 4.5 gen multirole fighter that has a delta wing design and is capable of producing a higher G-force of up to 11G. The Rafale M fighter jet is 15.27 meters long and has a wingspan of 10.80 meters. The Rafale M fighter jet is only available in a single seat configuration and its wings cannot be folded while on the carrier deck.
The Dassault Rafale M has a GIAT 30M/719B gun mounted on it with the ability to fire 0.5 or 1 second burst at 2,500 RPM. The Rafale M is equipped with the MBDA MICA main missile as a multi-target, fire-and-forget, air-to-air missile. For Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air combat, the Rafale has the MBDA Meteor.
2, Boeing F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet
The Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet, developed by the Boeing Company, has a 20% larger airframe, with a range of 41% longer. Improved General Electric F414 engine providing 35% more thrust.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet has a speed of Mach 1.8, similar to the Rafale thanks to dual GE-sourced engines. The Super Hornet is equipped with the M61A1 Vulcan rotating cannon which can fire 6,000 rounds per minute.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet has a homing radar combined with a semi-active Air Intercept Missile (AIM-7 Sparrow). For Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air combat, the Super Hornet has the AIM-120 AMRAAM.