Vietnam Could Become Next Customer for France’s Rafale Fighter.

Vietnam is reportedly considering the French-made Rafale fighter as it looks to diversify away from Russian military equipment, according to a 4 February 2026 report by L’Express. The move could reshape defense alignments in Southeast Asia while strengthening France’s long-term footprint in the Indo-Pacific.

Vietnam could emerge as one of the next international customers for Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter, at a moment when Hanoi is actively reassessing its decades-long dependence on Russian combat aircraft. French outlet L’Express reported on 4 February 2026 that discussions have reached an unusually advanced stage, highlighted by a Vietnamese pilot’s reported opportunity to fly the Rafale, a step rarely granted outside mature technical and operational exchanges, according to defense industry observers familiar with export practices.
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The Dassault Rafale is a twin-engine multirole fighter with a delta wing and close-coupled canards, designed to retain high agility across the full flight envelope, including at high angles of attack, while remaining able to carry heavy loads over long distances. (Picture source: Dassault Aviation)

This prospect emerges as Vietnam’s air force remains largely based on Soviet-era legacy structures, centred on Sukhoï fighters and older platforms dedicated to ground-attack missions. Today, the core of Vietnam’s air-to-air capability is built around the Su-30MK2, a comparatively modern aircraft by regional standards but one that depends on a Russian logistical chain. In parallel, Vietnam continues to operate Su-22 attack aircraft, whose military relevance in a contested environment is declining as the density of radars, ground-based air defence systems, and electronic warfare capabilities increases across the theatre. The Rafale would therefore fit into a renewal pathway, but more importantly, into a qualitative transformation by introducing a Western multirole platform capable of interception, precision strike, and armed presence over sensitive maritime areas.

The French aircraft has already reached an important milestone with Indonesia’s order for 42 Rafale fighters, a contract that helped strengthen Dassault’s position in Southeast Asia and reinforced the view that a European aircraft can compete with US, Russian, or Asian alternatives. India, for its part, has already integrated the Rafale into its air force while maintaining a large Sukhoï fleet, showing that coexistence between Russian and French aircraft is feasible and can support a broader diversification strategy. Vietnam would follow a comparable path, but with a distinct political dimension, as it would represent a sharper break from a procurement model historically centred on Moscow.

The Dassault Rafale is a twin-engine multirole fighter with a delta wing and close-coupled canards, designed to retain high agility across the full flight envelope, including at high angles of attack, while remaining able to carry heavy loads over long distances. It is powered by two Safran M88-2 turbofan engines, enabling a maximum speed of around 1,800 km/h, with a stated range that can reach 3,700 km depending on the mission profile. The aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of around 24,500 kg and an external payload capacity of more than 9 tonnes across 14 hardpoints (13 on the carrier-capable Rafale M), allowing it to configure air-to-air, air-to-ground, and anti-ship loads simultaneously, including with external fuel tanks. It also integrates an internal Nexter 30M 791 30 mm cannon (rate of fire up to 2,500 rounds per minute) for close air support and close-range engagements.

The Rafale is built around an IMA (Integrated Modular Avionics) architecture with an MDPU (Modular Data Processing Unit) that centralises data fusion, mission management, and the man-machine interface. Its primary sensor is the Thales RBE2 radar (including the RBE2 AESA variant), capable of multi-mode search and simultaneous tracking of aerial targets, while generating high-resolution mapping for navigation and targeting. Survivability is reinforced by the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite, combining detection, identification, jamming, and countermeasures to address air and ground threats, and by the OSF (Optronique Secteur Frontal) front-sector optronic system, a passive visible/infrared sensor integrated for detection and identification without emitting radar energy. In terms of weapons, the platform is qualified for MICA air-to-air missiles (IR and RF) and Meteor, precision strike using AASM, stand-off attack with SCALP, and anti-surface warfare with Exocet, making the Rafale an “omnirole” aircraft able to execute multiple mission types within a single sortie.

The Rafale would likely not immediately substitute the Su-30MK2, which would remain the backbone of Vietnam’s air force in the short term. The most plausible approach would be a gradual replacement of the oldest aircraft, particularly legacy strike platforms, in order to modernise the air-to-ground component and improve precision-strike capability. Over the medium term, the introduction of a Western multirole fighter could also lead to doctrinal adjustments, with air power increasingly structured around versatility, precision effects, and information superiority rather than mass alone.

For air superiority, the Rafale would allow Vietnam to improve the quality of interceptions and the ability of its patrols to sustain airspace control over time, supported by modern sensors and enhanced situational awareness. The relevance for maritime strike is even more direct: Vietnam operates in an environment where competition is centred on the sea, around islands, sea lines of communication, and contested exclusive economic zones. In this context, the ability to conduct armed presence missions, reconnaissance, and precision strikes against naval or land targets becomes a key deterrence factor. Designed to operate in contested conditions, the Rafale would strengthen Vietnam’s posture in the South China Sea by expanding the range and precision of available options while improving mission survivability.

In geopolitical terms, a Rafale sale to Vietnam would send signals to several actors simultaneously. To Beijing, it would indicate that Hanoi is strengthening its deterrence and air-defence capabilities in a theatre where China has intensified military activity. To Moscow, it would suggest that Vietnam, long regarded as a natural customer, is seeking to secure its freedom of action by diversifying dependencies. For France, the deal would reinforce its Indo-Pacific posture while serving industrial interests: broadening the Rafale customer base in Asia, supporting production continuity, and securing long-term revenue through support, maintenance, and upgrade activities.