France’s DGA Receives 1st Rafale Built to Replace Greek Jets

Dassault Aviation handed over a two-seat Rafale F3R fighter to the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA), aimed to replace ones purchased from the French Air Force by Greece.

The “B359” aircraft was delivered to the DGA on December 29 at the Dassault Aviation site in Mérignac (Gironde). This is the first Rafale produced by the company for the Ministry of the Armed Forces since 2018. Thirteen more Rafale jets will be delivered to the military this year.

Rafale assembly lines have been devoted to export, making it possible to deliver 100 of the 224 new aircraft ordered to date by six other countries, the DGA said. “The 152nd aircraft, the two-seater Rafale B358, was delivered to the Air and Space Force in November 2018. Since then, deliveries for France have been interrupted in favor of exclusive manufacturing for the benefit of Rafale export customers.”

The two-seater Rafale B359 is the first plane of a batch of 40 planes which will be delivered by the end of 2025. The last jet will be transformed into aircraft testbed for the benefit of development testing. This batch of 40 aircraft includes 12 aircraft, ordered in early 2021 to replace 12 Rafales sold second-hand to Greece, the DGA added.

The Rafale B359 incorporates hardware and software upgrades, directly resulting from developments carried out in the context of export. The Rafale B359 will be used to implement the F4.1 standard, currently being approved by the DGA technical authority with a view to its start of deployment in 2023.