Both France and French company Dassault Aviation's upcoming Rafale fighter bore a heavy influence on the design of the Avion.[2] The Novi Avion was to be Yugoslavia's first supersonic aircraft, accordingly, the national industry lacked experience in the design and testing of such fighters and sought out external partners to provide assistance.[4] During the late 1980s, a preliminary design study, heavily influenced by the Rafale, had been submitted by Dassault. The Avion shared several areas of commonality with the Rafale, such as an almost-identical delta-canard configuration and a similar engine intake arrangement.[2] It has been claimed that the addition of strakes extending aft from the trailing edge of the wing was to account for the single engine arrangement adopted for the type. According to aerospace publication Flight International, the majority of design differences between the Rafale and the Avion were due to the smaller size of the latter, especially in terms of its tail section.[2]