UAE Eyes France's Rafale Fighter

[ejaz007]

UAE Eyes France's Rafale Fighter
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 5 Jun 17:03 EDT (13:03 GMT)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The United Arab Emirates said on June 5 it was mulling replacing its fleet of French Mirage 2000 combat planes with the multi-role Rafale, which has yet to find an export market.

"The UAE is seriously considering replacing its fleet of Mirage 2000 combat planes with the French new generation Rafale fighter starting in 2013," an official was quoted by the state WAM news agency as saying.

"Discussions on this issue are underway between the UAE government and France," he said.

The official did not give more details but the oil-rich Gulf country's purchase of the Rafale would be a major boost for Dassault Aviation's fourth-generation combat jet.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy immediately welcomed the announcement as "good news for France.

"The United Arab Emirates has been using French weaponry for a long time," he said in a statement. "They are looking at the Rafale to replace their fleet of 63 Mirage 2000 planes."

He said there was "no fixed dates, nor have commercial negotiations begun" but added that "discussions will be held in the coming weeks."

"In case a contract is signed, the first planes can be delivered from 2012 onwards."

Dassault are also makers of the Mirage 2000-9 combat planes, which the UAE bought in 1998.

Abu Dhabi purchased 30 Mirage 2000-9 in a 3.2-billion-dollar deal which included the modernization of 33 other Mirages.

France is a leading military supplier to the UAE, which bought more than 400 Leclerc tanks from French firm GIAT in 1994.

During a visit by Sarkozy to Abu Dhabi in January, the two countries signed a deal under which Paris will set up its first permanent military base in the UAE.

The base will be set up in Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest and largest of the UAE's seven emirates.

It is due to become operational in 2009 and will eventually host 400-500 French army, navy and air force personnel, French officials have said.

"It will be the first such French base in the Gulf and it will face the Strait of Hormuz," the strategic waterway through which much of the world's oil supplies pass, a French presidential source said in January.

Abu Dhabi and Paris are linked by a 1995 defense pact under which their armed forces conduct regular joint maneuvers in the UAE.

Dassault has yet to find a foreign buyer for the Rafale, which can carry out interception and reconnaissance missions as well as nuclear strikes. The French aerospace group is in talks with Libya over a possible sale.

Talks had taken place with Saudi Arabia on a possible deal, but the Gulf oil powerhouse eventually opted for Britain's Eurofighter jets.

UAE Eyes France's Rafale Fighter - Defense News

India and Pakistan could be the contenders for the Mirage 2000 fighters.
Regards,

 

[khanz]

nice ! i read somewhere rafale is considered to be 3rd best plane after f-22 and eurofighter

 

[TOPGUN]

Yes Pakistan & India could be in line for this i think we forsure should go for this doesnt look like anything else is happening or gona happen so why not if the price is right!! again i could be wrong ?

 

[fatman17]

Jane's Login

Dassault eyes overseas customers for Rafale

France's defence White Paper restates the importance of securing an inaugural export order for the Rafale fighter aircraft. Craig Caffrey assesses its chances

The French White Paper on defence and national security published on 17 June appears to point to a significant reduction in the number of Dassault Rafale F3 multirole fighters that will be ordered by the French Air Force.

The document announces plans to decrease the number of combat aircraft across both the navy and air force down to a mix of 300 Rafales and upgraded Mirage 2000Ds. Given that plans exist to upgrade at least 50 Mirages under a mid-life upgrade (MLU) programme announced by the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) in 2002, it now appears possible that the Rafale order will be limited to 250 platforms at the most.

This figure represents a decrease of at least 44 aircraft or 15 per cent of the originally intended order. According to Jane's Defence Forecasts estimates, this will reduce the value of the contract by between USD3.4 billion and USD3.7 billion. Furthermore, if the Mirage 2000 MLU is expanded to incorporate additional aircraft, these figures could rise further. So far, contracts are in place for 120 aircraft including 38 for the navy.

Given that the navy's Super Etendard fighter aircraft will need to be replaced by the navalised Rafale M, necessitating the full 60-aircraft purchase, it appears that the reduction in platforms will come from the air force order.

Clarification on the issue of how many Rafales the DGA now plans to order is likely, Jane's understands, to come as part of a capability review that will follow the White Paper. French Defence Minister Hervé Morin has highlighted the importance of this review as existing projects, such as the Rafale, NH90 helicopter and Tiger attack helicopter, are expected to place considerable strain on the defence budget between 2009-11 as production schedules for these programmes accelerate.

In July 2007 Morin stated his belief that the current budget would need to be increased by as much as 43 per cent to accommodate the spending commitments expected in this period, warning that "a certain number of difficult decisions and tough choices" will have to be made on which future programmes will continue, be deferred or be delayed.

News contained in the White Paper that French defence-procurement spending will be increased from the current level of EUR15.5 billion (USD24.4 billion) per year to EUR18 billion a year between 2009 and 2020 will serve to ease some of Morin's concerns. However, the White Paper's revelations suggest this is unlikely to prevent cuts to a number of key programmes including the Rafale.

Jane's believes that this will add to Dassault's - and indeed the French government's - determination to secure an export customer for the fighter aircraft in order to reduce per-unit costs of the programme and gain partners for through-life development of the type. The focus of these efforts will fall upon Brazil, Greece, India, Japan, Libya, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where Rafale is already being pushed to fill requirements after having missed out in Morocco (to the Lockheed Martin F-16) and Saudi Arabia (to the Eurofighter Typhoon).

The most high profile of these requirements is the Indian Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme, which covers an initial requirement for 126 aircraft and potentially many more. The Rafale will face stiff competition from the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-16, MiG-35 and Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Given the magnitude of this deal and its requirement to replace the small, single-engined MiG-21, the Rafale, as well as some of its competitors, may be priced out of the market.

Dassault appears to be courting Libya and the UAE as its two most likely customers in the short term following the near miss with Morocco. Instead of accepting a French offer to supply 18 Rafales for around EUR2 billion, the Moroccans selected a counter bid by Lockheed Martin for 24 new F-16 aircraft for the equivalent of EUR1.6 billion.

Jane's Defence Forecasts has reported that Libya, which has not inducted any new combat aircraft since the 1980s, has a clear requirement and negotiations have been under way for some time for around 18-24 aircraft. However, recent developments suggest that attention may be moving towards procurement of the Sukhoi Su-30MK as part of a USD4.5 billion debt-relief programme negotiated with Russia.

The UAE requirement is certainly less apparent from the outside given that the 64 Mirage 2000-9s, which the Rafale would replace, have only been in service since 2003 and have since been augmented by 70 of the most advanced F-16E/F units available. However, the UAE is not short of funding and appears to be showing an interest in the offer, having confirmed on 5 June that preliminary talks are under way.

Dassault, therefore, certainly has no shortage of potential clients for the Rafale: an aircraft theoretically in contention for more than USD20 billion worth of contracts.

However, its key customer, the French Air Force, appears to be faltering as the procurement cycle becomes congested with a number of concurrent high-value programmes. This will add to the pressure to find alternative clients while, at the same time, effectively increasing the per-unit cost of the aircraft.

Furthermore, a reduction in the French order, coupled with the lack of export customers, makes the through-life path of the Rafale less certain by increasing the potential costs of upgrades. Even when the full 294 Rafale buy is compared with the proposed 3,000-plus aircraft Joint Strike Fighter programme or even the 707-platform Eurofighter Typhoon project, the absence of economies of scale and cost sharing between operators for further developments may be enough to dissuade some nations.
The Rafale is widely considered to be one of the most capable multirole fighters in the world today. However, considerable efforts to improve the economics behind the programme have so far produced few tangible results. Any reduction in the French order will only exacerbate these problems. The Rafale is thus not the first - and will certainly not be the last - aircraft that possesses exemplary capabilities but still struggles to secure the essential governmental funds both at home and abroad to make it a true commercial success.
Craig Caffrey is a Jane's Defence Forecasts Analyst, based in London

 

[fatman17]

The UAE requirement is certainly less apparent from the outside given that the 64 Mirage 2000-9s, which the Rafale would replace, have only been in service since 2003 and have since been augmented by 70 of the most advanced F-16E/F units available. However, the UAE is not short of funding and appears to be showing an interest in the offer, having confirmed on 5 June that preliminary talks are under way.

the above raises some interesting scenarios!
one being the very cordial relations between UAE and PAK armed forces, sale of these fairly new mirage-2009s (say up to 40 a/c) could be an interesting proposition for the PAF. in this case the PAF could have a very potent interdiction fleet comprising 40 mirage-2009s and 40 mirage ROSE.

 

[Skywalker]

Maybe some one can find an article about a pact between qatar and Pakistan that in case of war the Mirage 2000s will be transfered to Pakistan or vice versa as these were initially flown by Pakistani pilots.

 

[IceCold]

The UAE requirement is certainly less apparent from the outside given that the 64 Mirage 2000-9s, which the Rafale would replace, have only been in service since 2003 and have since been augmented by 70 of the most advanced F-16E/F units available. However, the UAE is not short of funding and appears to be showing an interest in the offer, having confirmed on 5 June that preliminary talks are under way.

the above raises some interesting scenarios!
one being the very cordial relations between UAE and PAK armed forces, sale of these fairly new mirage-2009s (say up to 40 a/c) could be an interesting proposition for the PAF. in this case the PAF could have a very potent interdiction fleet comprising 40 mirage-2009s and 40 mirage ROSE.

Sir we are already phasing mirages out replacing them by the JF-17. Would it be wise to go for a fourth platform besides JF-17, FC-20 and the F-16s. I mean it does'nt sound to be cost effective for an already budget constraint air force such as the PAF.

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

M2K9 cannot be considered as a new platform given the Capabilities of Growing PAF and Mirage Background and interactions with Dassault. Seems a long shot to believe that U.A.E will offer 40 M2K9 for sale to Pakistan.

But anything is possible.

 

[Myth_buster_1]

considering tight PAF budget i think it would be wise to save some $$$ for J-XX .... no need to spend money on another platform when PAF new and upgraded F-16 will deliver the same results.. why mirage-20009 when we can get FC-20??

 

[Proud to be Pakistani]

If given the option PAF should take it. Cause in 2-3 years neither the JF-17 nor the FC-20 will be fully integrated in PAF. The gap can be plugged by M2K9... Infact these are tremendous Fighters!

 

[gromell]

nice ! i read somewhere rafale is considered to be 3rd best plane after f-22 and eurofighter

Why after eurofighter? I find Rafale better.

 

[TOPGUN]

If we had the funds for the rafale do you guys think france would sell it to us?

 

[Gabbar]

Could India step in and ask France to deliever to India? 126-MRCA deal & Nuclear reacor deal could put some pressure on France to sell it India instead of Pakistan.

 

[TOPGUN]

Gabber lets not be too gready bro ! thx

 

[Gabbar]

Gready....?

I think this is genuine question.