2 days ago
Rafale Reemerges With Conformal Fuel Tanks
Dassault has installed conformal fuel tanks, or CFTs, on one of its Rafale multirole fighters, promising a significant improvement in range, while also increasing the aircraft's ability to carry external weapons and stores. While CFTs had previously been tested on the Rafale, the idea has now regained traction, which could have significant ramifications for the French fighter's future capabilities. It could also impact the export prospects for these jets, as well.
Rafale avec réservoir fuselage ?Drone UCAV Neuron ?Drone MALE AAROK ?Le Bourget va être incroyable
— FR 𝕏 Defense (@FR_Defense) June 11, 2025
The above photo of a two-seat French Air Force Rafale B fitted with CFTs began circulating recently on social media. The tanks are installed on top of the center 'barrel' section of the Rafale's fuselage, fitted on each side of the aircraft's central spine.
The aircraft was spotted as part of the static display in the run-up to the Paris Air Show, which begins in the French capital on June 16. Also photographed in the same area were a flying-wing type drone, perhaps the Dassault nEUROn, and the huge Aarok medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone, which you can read more about here.
It's not clear if the Rafale's CFTs are fully workable and plumbed into the aircraft or if they are representative mock-ups. But it's notable that the CFTs have reappeared at a time when rival manufacturers appear to have mainly abandoned plans to offer their fourth-generation fighters with this option.
Interestingly, the Rafale B01 prototype was flown with CFTs back in 2001, as seen at the top of this article, but this configuration didn't attract any customers. Since then, according to Dassault, all Rafales have been completed with the option to add CFTs, although it's unclear how much modification work would be required.
Rafale with CFTs is back!?
Posting photos below from maiden tests of CFTs on Rafale B back in @Dassault_OnAir already mentions that "All Rafales have built-in CFT capability". Pitching it again?
— Rishav Gupta (ऋषव गुप्ता) |
(@connect_rishav) June 12, 2025
There's no doubt, however, that CFTs offer the Rafale significant benefits in terms of range and performance over draggy drop tanks. Jets with CFTs can also carry additional stores on pylons under the wing and under the fuselage that otherwise would have to be set aside to carry the drop tanks.
This latter point is particularly relevant to the Rafale, which is regularly seen loaded with three 330-gallon drop tanks, two under the wings and one under the belly. This restricts the fighter to carrying, for example, six air-to-air missiles (AAMs) or eight in a much more rarely seen overload configuration. When it comes to the critically important Meteor beyond-visual-range AAM, the Rafale can currently carry a maximum of four — CFTs would very likely allow that total to be increased.
Currently, magazine depth is very much at a premium in air combat — the ability of an aircraft to carry a considerable number of external weapons. This is something that has been emphasized in recent operations to defeat drones and cruise missiles in the Middle East. Here, at least one U.S. Air Force F-15E — a type generally prized for its magazine depth — exhausted all its AAMs and resorted to using its gun against the low and slow-flying drones. Now, the U.S. Air Force is resorting to arming its fighters with laser-guided rockets to drastically expand magazine depth in this theater.
It's not clear how much additional range the CFTs would provide the Rafale, although we have asked Dassault for more details. It's certainly the case, however, that the Rafale, in its basic form, is not well known for its range.
By way of comparison, Boeing said, in the past, that an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrying two AIM-9X Sidewinders, two AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), and two 2,000-pound-class precision-guided bombs would have a combat radius of 594 nautical miles with only the fuel in its internal tanks, plus a drop tank on its centerline pylon. With CFTs, a Super Hornet with the same loadout would have a combat radius of 714 nautical miles.
However, plans to include CFTs in the Block III upgrade package for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/Fs were dropped after discovering various issues with them during testing. In this case, the problems may well have been related to operating CFT-equipped Super Hornets from aircraft carriers, namely how the reconfigured aircraft handled the stresses of catapult launches and arrested recoveries. In the past, Dassault has said it also offers CFTs on the carrier-capable Rafale M version.
Boeing also previously offered Super Hornets with CFTs, notably to Canada (in land-based form) and to India, neither of which opted to buy the aircraft.
It's worth noting, too, that CFTs come with very particular disadvantages. Unlike drop tanks, they cannot be jettisoned when required, for example, to enhance agility during a dogfight or during some kind of emergency scenario. They also have their own performance penalty, adding drag and weight even when empty.
As it now stands, the Rafale's CFTs appear to be offered again as part of the latest Standard F5 configuration.
In an interview with AirForces Monthly magazine in 2023, Guilhem Reboul, then-head of the Rafale program within the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA), the French defense procurement agency, said that, for Standard F5, 'Modifications to the airframe are also considered, including the adoption of conformal fuel tanks and of radar-cross-section reduction kits, to increase the stealthiness of the Rafale.'
As you can read about here, Standard F5 is planned to keep the Rafale in frontline service until around 2060.
This latest iteration of the Rafale will focus on collaborative combat, as well as incorporating new-generation weapons, among them the ASN4G, the next-generation standoff nuclear weapon.
Other new weapons for Standard F5 are expected to include successors for the SCALP conventional cruise missile and the Exocet anti-ship missile, with a hypersonic design being examined for the latter requirement. Air-to-air munitions should include an upgraded Meteor beyond-visual-range missile.
Very significantly, the F5 version is also planned to be fielded alongside a new, French-developed uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV).
As well as the aforementioned Super Hornet Block III, CFTs have also been offered in the past for the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Eurofighter eventually reported that there was a lack of customer interest in CFTs for Typhoon, although there are unconfirmed reports that there were also aerodynamic problems uncovered during wind tunnel testing. Instead of CFTs, Eurofighter decided to push other range-extending changes, including the Aerodynamic Modification Kit (AMK), which involves adding fuselage strakes and root extensions to increase maximum lift, also improving load-carrying ability and agility.
Well, EF said "no customer appetite", but reportedly problems found during wind tunnel testing. The "other ways" noted below include the Aerodynamic Modification Kit of the LTE package.
— Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) June 12, 2025
Meanwhile, the F-15 and F-16 have long been successfully operated by multiple different air forces, including on combat operations, with CFTs fitted. CFTs have been an option for F-15-series jets since the 1970s, and the Israeli Air Force was a pioneer in their use, transforming fighters into long-range strike platforms, as you can read more about here. Noteworthy, too, is the fact that, in the case of U.S. Air Force F-15Es, these aircraft are now more regularly having their CFTs removed, specifically to achieve higher performance for certain air-to-air mission sets.
With previous test-flight work having been completed on the Rafale, the technical challenges that hampered the introduction of CFTs on the Super Hornet and Typhoon might well be more easily mastered by Dassault.
While it remains to be seen whether France or any of the Rafale's growing family of export operators opt for CFTs in the future, the fact that these can apparently be added to any existing Rafale airframe should make this a more attractive proposition. They are also being revisited at a time in which, after significant export success, the Rafale's reputation is somewhat tarnished, whether justifiably or not, by its performance in recent Indian-Pakistan engagements. Keeping the aircraft relevant with new upgrades is more important than ever.
Provided they are affordable, the CFTs should offer significant benefits to the Rafale in terms of both range and load-carrying ability, although, as with similar add-ons, they do come with some disadvantages, too.
Contact the author: thomas@
