Air Superiority Vs Multirole

 I hope you all are aware of the entry of Rafale jets into Indian Air Force, it's a Multirole fighter jet. There is a debate going on why India has gone for the Multirole fighter where we already have an Air superiority fighter (Su-30 MKI). Well, we will try to answer this question in this article.

About air superiority fighters:

1. If we talk about an air superiority fighter it’s a type of fighter aircraft intended to enter and seize control of enemy airspace. 
2. Air superiority fighters are equipped with long-range and BVR (Beyond Visual Range) capabilities. 
3. They are disadvantageous because they take more scramble time(i.e they generally take more time to be mission-ready). 
4. Their cost of maintenance is also very high.
5. Air superiority fighters are more expensive aircraft and procured in lesser numbers by the countries. 
6. The payload configuration also differs from multirole aircraft where more emphasis is given on the BVR capabilities. (i.e they have more number of radar-guided missiles than heat-seeking missiles but the number of bombs depends upon the mission)

Air superiority fighter jets include F-15, F-22, Su-30MKI, Eurofighter, etc.

                                       Read here about Types of Fighter Jets

Multirole fighters:

1. A multirole (or multi-role) combat aircraft is an aircraft that can be used as both a fighter aircraft and a ground attack aircraft. 
2. Multirole fighters are lighter and less powerful than air superiority fighters. They are generally easy to maintain and cost-effective. 
3. They are usually built largely in number. And they have a fast scramble time. 
4. They are designed to defend a base or territory from enemy threat effectively. They have a payload more emphasized on heat-seeking missiles.

Multi role fighters includes F-16, F-18, F-35, Mig-29/35, Rafale, etc

Air superiority fighter or not?

Well, there is a debate on if Rafale, Eurofighter, Mig-35 and Gripen (yes even Gripen) are considered Air superiority fighters or not. 

Well, we must understand that Air superiority fighters are sometimes used as multirole fighters but multirole fighters cannot be used as air superiority fighters mainly because of their range. Some analysts say that a country’s advanced fighter is its air superiority fighter.