France shows evidence of the virtual downing of an American F-35A by a Rafale C fighter jet

Hay un gran debate entre aficionados a la aviación sobre si cazas que carecen de capacidades furtivas serían capaces de vencer a un F-35.

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There are fighters that could be serious rivals for the F-35 if they were on opposing sides, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon (manufactured jointly by Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom) and the French Dassault Rafale, which is the most modern interceptor currently used by the Armée de l'Air (the French air force).

From June 16 to 27, France deployed six Rafale fighter jets to Finland for exercise Atlantic Trident 25, a joint exercise with the United States, the United Kingdom, and the host country. On August 20, the French Air Force published an interesting video about this exercise (the video is in French; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

The Armée de l'Air usually has a modest number of views on YouTube, but this video has gone viral and has already been viewed more than 100,000 times. The reason for this audience success can be found in the HUD recordings of Rafale C fighters featured in the video. Among the images we see, for example, a Finnish F/A-18C locked onto the reticle of a French fighter, a virtual kill signal in an exercise like this:

But shooting down an F/A-18C, a fighter jet older than the Rafale, doesn't seem to be much of a feat. The reason this video went viral is this image, which we can see at 3:24 (click on the image to enlarge it):

What we see here is a United States Air Force (USAF) F-35A stealth fighter. The US roundel is clearly visible on the port wing. The aircraft is locked on the reticle. The F-35A remains locked for several seconds. So, a Rafale C would have clearly defeated a much more advanced F-35A. France must be very proud.

The Armée de l'Air has released this image of one of the possible victims of this engagement. It is an F-35A from the 495th Fighter Squadron "Valkyries" (495 FS) based at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, England. This unit has been equipped with the F-35A since 2021. The French Rafales were from the 30th Fighter Wing, based at Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France, a unit created on May 1, 1953, disbanded in 1994, and reactivated on September 3, 2015.

The Rafale and the Eurofighter are highly maneuverable fighters and are highly likely to defeat an F-35 in a "dog fight," i.e., close-range aerial combat. Both aircraft are highly maneuverable thanks to their powerful thrust and their delta-wing and canard-wing configuration. However, the F-35 is designed to win in BVR combat, beyond visual range, without being detected by its enemies. A Rafale likely wouldn't even have had the chance to get close enough to an F-35A to even consider a "dog fight" between the two.

However, it should be remembered that during the Cold War, there was an idea that US aircraft would defeat their allies in BVR combat thanks to the use of air-to-air missiles. That was what was planned in theory. That doctrine fell apart during the Vietnam War, when the Americans began to suffer considerable losses in close-range combat, which is why the Top Gun academy was founded in the US Navy. Today, air-to-air missiles have advanced significantly and evading them is increasingly difficult, but the possibility of close-range combat should never be ruled out.

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Main photo: U.S. Air Force. A French Rafale C flying over Finland during Exercise Atlantic Trident on June 26, 2025.