The article essentially confirms that French pilots are fed up with Rafale bashing which has been running for years now.
Remembering that Eurofighter said that " in almost all the encounters, Typhoon emerged with significantly better performances", those claims are qualified as baseless with no argument.
Referring to the anecdote with Italian Typhoon engaging the Rafale successfully, A&C brings details : those were MN Flotille 12F Rafale, and it happened above the Tyrrhenian Sea in early 2012. French pilots do not agree with their Italian counterparts, as they want to remind that the Pk used for the Amraam were more "permissive" than those used for Mica. This details seems to indicate that Typhoon were not exactly undetected as suggested by Italian pilots... However, French pilots admits that Captor is a better air-to-air radar (than the RBE-2 PESA), but they still question the claimed superiority of Typhoon.
What about the RAF ?
Last time RAF Typhoon really trained against the Rafale was in 2009, in Solenzara. A bit later, some 2 on 2 BVR engagements were simulated, and French pilots who participated claim that the results were well favourable to Rafale.
Displeased, the RAF no longer want to "fight" against Rafale. In early March, British pilots outright refused to oppose the Rafale. RAF has already indicated that no Typhoon will be available for training on the 11th this month (May).
But still, the Rafale bashing goes on, as demonstrated by the newspapers which claimed that Rafale was still unable to self-illuminate targets during operation Harmattan, or by the recent Eurofighter World issue.
Link to the article :
