Unrivaled Giants: Unveiling the World's Largest and Costliest Military Aircraft

13. The French Rafale

Entered Service: 1986

Retirement Status: N/A

Program Cost: $62.7 Billion

Dassault’s Rafale is an omnirole, twin-engine fighter with canard-delta wings and a vast weapons suite, serving both the French Air Force and Navy.

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Launched in the late 1970s, the Rafale showcases France’s choice to keep development domestic, ensuring technological sovereignty while meeting every mission profile from air superiority to reconnaissance.