When Western European powers were working on the Eurofighter Typhoon, France was working on its own aircraft, and their involvement in building aircraft since the end of WWII and the beginning of the Cold War gave them the capability to build the 4.5 generation Dassault Rafale.

Rafael is regarded as one of the best fighters in the world in the medium multirole capability category. As a result, the Indian Air Force purchased 36 Rafale fighters in 2015, with the last arriving in 2022.