FPP041 - Dassault Rafale

The SEPECAT Jaguar, Vought F-8 Crusader, Mirage F-1, Mirage 2000, Dassault Étendard, and later the Super Étendard were all remarkable aircraft designed to do one or two missions well. But what may be most noteworthy about these aircraft is that they were all replaced by just one model: the incredibly-capable Dassault Rafale.

On this episode, we conduct our first remote interview with Lieutenant Pierre “Até” Chuet of the French Navy who phoned in from the United Kingdom to answer our standard ‘aircraft series’ questions. Até paints a remarkable picture of the one aircraft that replaced so many others and currently serves as the frontline fighter for the French Navy and Air Force, as well as export countries.

During the listener question segment, we discuss the psychology of killing in war, personal camera regulations, left-handed F-16 pilots, and overhead break permissions at the ship.

Bumper music by Jaime Lopez / announcements by Jim Hendershot.