French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation has filed a criminal complaint over deliberate damage to a Rafale aircraft at its Cergy plant, months after it reported a separate security scare involving a worker wearing camera-equipped smart glasses at the same facility.
Last week, Dassault Aviation said it had filed a complaint for “actes de dégradation,” or “acts of damage,” committed at the Cergy plant, and police arrested a “collaborator”, referring to an employee.
“Justice is taking its course,” it emphasized.
Dassault did not reveal which part of the aircraft was damaged.
A separate report from another French publication, Le Parisien, said Dassault lodged its complaint after initially discovering damage on a Rafale being built at Cergy in late 2025, and discovering additional damage in June 2026.
Investigators from the Gendarmerie’s specialized armament research section—the unit that handles cases involving threats to defense secrets and military equipment—arrested the accused employee earlier this month. The Paris prosecutor’s office, which handles military and national-security matters, is reportedly overseeing the investigation.
Dassault’s Cergy plant lies northwest of Paris and assembles fuselage sections and installs systems and equipment on Rafale fighters before they move on to final assembly and flight testing at Mérignac, near Bordeaux.
According to reports, the facility is Dassault’s first new production site since the 1970s and employs more than 600 people. It became operational in summer 2024 and was formally inaugurated in September 2025.
Before the latest incident, authorities arrested another employee from the same facility on suspicion of espionage.
In February 2026, authorities detained a temporary 19-year-old worker at the same facility, working on the assembly line, for wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses inside the facility.
He was taken into custody for secretly filming confidential content related to the aircraft and actively posing a threat to national security and the secrecy of the jet.
“We immediately notified the relevant authorities, who have taken the necessary action,” the company said at the time.
However, the prosecutor later concluded that the glasses had not been used to film inside the plant, and released the employee.
Nonetheless, the security of critical infrastructure and defense sites has come under focus as President Emmanuel Macron said: ”In recent weeks, the threat – particularly the Russian hybrid threat – facing Europeans and France has intensified,” while speaking to reporters earlier this month.
Furthermore, he said that he had ordered “the government to prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure” and the “most sensitive” s industry and technology sites against possible drone and cyber-attacks. He did not, however, say anything about internal or externally sponsored sabotage.
Although there is currently no evidence to suggest that the worker held for damaging Rafale was acting on behalf of an external command, countries across Europe have complained of a rise in hybrid attacks.
Earlier, Estonia has accused Russia of “sabotage” for an arson attack on a defense company, Milrem Robotics, in August 2026. Expressing solidarity with Estonia, French President Macron said, “The proliferation of these hostile acts reflects a dangerous headlong rush by Russia – one that will only lead it into a dead end.”
Rafale’s Popularity & Sales Are Surging
Rafale began slowly in the export market but has now become a huge commercial success. In addition to the French Air and Space Forces, eight nations have acquired the French aircraft, including Egypt, India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Croatia, Indonesia, and Serbia.
The aircraft’s omnirole capabilities, relative freedom from US export restrictions, and local industrial participation have made it attractive in Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe.
The surge in Rafale popularity and sales helped cement France’s position as the world’s second-largest arms exporter in 2021–25.
Moreover, a 2026 Parliamentary Report published last month suggested that French arms exports exceeded €20 billion in 2025 for the second consecutive year, a bulk of which was attributed to the Rafale, a clear sign of its surging popularity.
For example, Egypt recently submitted a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to Dassault Aviation for 24 additional Rafale fighters, which could pave the way for Cairo’s third purchase of the jet and bring the total fleet to 78.
After placing a major order for Rafale Marines in 2025, India is once again expected to dominate France’s arms exports through its upcoming acquisition of 114 Rafale fighter jets.
In May 2026, India submitted a Letter of Request (LoR) to France seeking a government-to-government agreement to purchase 114 Rafales. France responded by delivering its official proposal to the Indian defense ministry on 29 July, clearing the path for negotiations to commence. Reports indicate that roughly 20 aircraft would be supplied in flyaway condition, with the remaining jets produced under license in India.
The deal is estimated to be worth $35 billion.
In addition, Ukraine outlined plans in July 2026 to acquire up to 16 Rafale fighter jets from France, along with other weapon systems.
Some reports in June this year indicated that Morocco is eyeing a potential purchase of the jet, and discussions have already gotten underway. Meanwhile, other countries, including Colombia and Iraq, had also shown earlier interest in the Rafale.
Last year, Dassault Aviation announced it would increase Rafale production amid persistent supply chain problems triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 2026, Dassault faces a backlog of 208 aircraft, including 165 for export customers and 43 for France.
The current output is roughly 2.3 aircraft per month, with Dassault working to raise capacity toward four aircraft per month by 2028–2029. In fact, studies are under way for a possible further increase to five per month later if additional orders materialize.
At this point, achieving the higher rates depends on synchronizing the full supply chain and final assembly at Mérignac. However, any damage to aircraft between production and assembly can derail that effort.
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