The Dassault Rafale (French pronunciation: ​[ʁafal], meaning burst of fire in a military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, and nuclear strike missions.In the late 1970s, the French Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft.