What Went Down
AviationNews – On August 20, 2025, the French Air and Space Force shared a sleek 44-second video on its official X account (@Armee_de_lair), showing a Rafale engaging in a close-range dogfight (Close Air Combat, CAC) against an F-35A Lightning II, a U.S. F-15E, and a Finnish F/A-18. The Rafale symbolically “downs” its opponents in the simulation.
This all happened during Atlantic Trident 25, a high-intensity NATO exercise held from June 16–27, 2025, across multiple bases in Finland. It was the first time Finland hosted the exercise, involving more than 40 aircraft and around 1,000 personnel from France, the U.S., the U.K., and Finland.
Why It Makes Headlines
- Close-range capability spotlight: The Rafale’s twin-engine setup (Snecma M88), delta-wing design, and advanced SPECTRA electronic warfare and sensor suite showcased its agility and responsiveness in a tight-range dogfight.
- Experts emphasize the contextual advantage: While the Rafale shines in Close Air Combat, the F-35’s strength lies in long-range missions. Its stealth design, powerful AN/APG-81 AESA radar, 360° sensor fusion, and secure networking make it formidable in Beyond Visual Range (BVR) engagements—scenarios not shown in the footage.
The Broader Picture
- Training vs. reality: Symbolic “kills” in simulations hinge on exercise design, rules, and engagement parameters. Analysts caution not to interpret them as real-world superiority.
- Modern combat trends: Recent conflicts—like Ukraine, Israel, or the India-Pakistan theater—demonstrate air warfare is increasingly fought at long range, with fewer dogfights and more reliance on detection, stealth, and networked operations.
- Complementary tactics: The exercise underscores that Rafale and F-35 strategies can complement each other: agility and versatility at close range, and stealth plus network advantage at long range.
- Historical echo: The 2025 simulation isn’t the first time the Rafale symbolically bested a U.S. stealth fighter. In 2009, during exercises in the Middle East, it simulated a victory over an F-22 Raptor.
Extra Context from the Atlantic Trident 25 Exercise
- The exercise emphasized Agile Combat Employment (ACE): rapid forward deployment, flexible basing, and quick maintenance were practiced across Finnish airfields to bolster NATO’s coalition readiness.
- Interoperability was central: pilots and crews from different nations trained, refueled, maintained, and exchanged tactics and know-how, reaffirming collective defense unity
