Developing fighter jets is an extremely expensive, labor-intensive and complex task that only a handful of countries are able to accomplish all on their own (specifically Russia, China and the United States). This was also true decades ago, forcing the increasingly irrelevant European colonial powers to join hands in an attempt to build a pan-European fighter jet. Thus, back in the late 1970s, several countries (namely the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) launched the FEFA (Future European Fighter Aircraft) program to develop a jet that could match Soviet/Russian and American designs at the time. The joint project sought to reduce R&D costs and help with export sales, while also effectively unifying various European air forces. However, disagreements soon surfaced, resulting in Paris leaving the program and focusing on the development of its indigenous fighter jet.

That’s exactly how the Dassault “Rafale” and the Eurofighter “Typhoon” (also known as the EF-2000) came into existence. The two aircraft demonstrate how different needs of each European country can lead to major disagreements as to how a fighter jet is supposed to function. While France wanted a truly multirole aircraft (or omnirole, as per their own nomenclature), others wanted a more specialized jet that would focus on air superiority and interception roles. This is why the “Rafale” and “Typhoon” are so different, despite their external similarities. In addition, France has been able to upgrade its jets far more easily, as it didn’t have to coordinate this decision with anyone, while the EF-2000 needs a joint........

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