- Ukraine has taken the first steps to acquire Rafale fighters from France, along with advanced air defence systems
- The move comes weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed with Sweden to purchase Gripen fighters
- Ukraine is under considerable pressure as Russia continues nightly attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a letter of intent with French President Emmanuel Macron to purchase Rafale F4 fighter jets and advanced air defence systems, as part of a landmark deal during an official visit to France.
Posting on social media platform X on 17 November 2025, the Palais de l’Élysée stated that Ukraine would acquire Rafale fighters and SAMP/T NG air defence platforms, without stating the value of the deal nor delivery timelines.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
It was reported by French news outlet TFI Info that President Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine would seek to acquire 100 Rafale fighters.
It was initially unclear whether the Rafales would be existing stock from the French Air Force or if Ukraine would acquire new builds. However, President Zelenskyy subsequently posted on X that the 100 Rafale fighters would be delivered “by 2035”, indicating the potential for a mix of in-service and new build aircraft.
Such a sizeable fleet would augment Ukraine’s air combat capabilities significantly, with the Rafale considered to be a 4.5 generation multirole aircraft, similar in capability to the Eurofighter Typhoon.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataRafale to be added to Ukraine’s mixed future fleet
Ukraine has long-sought Western aircraft to modernise its Air Force, which currently operates the Russian-origin MiG-29 multirole fighters, Su-14/25/27 series ground attack platform, as well as older French Dassault Mirage 2000 fighters, which first began to arrive in 2025.
Kyiv has also been promised around 85 F-16 fighters from various Western countries, typically of the older C/D variants.
The letter of intent for the Rafale acquisition comes hot on the heels of a similar deal signed in October between Ukraine and Sweden for the delivery of between 100-150 Gripen fighters.
Should all of these acquisition plans come to fruition, Ukraine will operate a mixed fleet of around 100 Rafales from France, a similar number of F-16s from various sources, and over 100 Gripen fighters from Sweden, in addition to the existing Russian-origin platforms and the older Mirage 2000s.
Ukraine is seeking to boost its air defence capabilities as Russia continues to bombard its cities and energy infrastructure with nightly cruise missile and glide bomb attacks, with an increasing number of attacks thought to be getting through Ukrainian defences.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
