Andross
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The export hopes for France’s Rafale fighter jet were dealt a heavy setback on Sunday after it emerged that the United Arab Emirates was considering buying the rival Eurofighter Typhoon for its air force.
The news will come as a blow to the French government, which has strong military links with the UAE and had invested considerable political capital in recent months on lobbying the country’s government to choose the French-made jet.
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Eurofighter, the consortium maker of the Typhoon, confirmed on Sunday that the UAE had approached the UK government for a briefing on the Typhoon and its capabilities. A briefing with the UAE took place on October 17 and shortly after this the UAE government put in a “request for proposal” (RFP) to Eurofighter, inviting it to submit an offer to supply 60 jets.
“Eurofighter received an RFP from the government of the UAE and we are working on submitting a response as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson for Eurofighter said on Sunday.
Eurofighter is a consortium comprising BAE Systems of the UK, Finmeccanica of Italy and the pan-European aerospace group EADS.
The UAE air force’s combat fleet is composed of about 60 Lockheed Martin F-16s and 60 older Mirage 2000s, which are made by Dassault, the maker of the Rafale. The UAE’s fleet of F-16s is relatively recent and thus any new combat aircraft it chooses will replace the Mirage jets.
France has been promoting the sale of Rafale aircraft abroad for several years but the jet has yet to find an export customer outside France. The Typhoon, by contrast, has won orders in both Austria and Saudi Arabia, in addition to the four “launch” nations that collaborated on developing the jet in Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain.
France’s sales drive in the UAE has been in train for more than three years now. At several points during that time, French policymakers have expressed confidence that they were very close to signing a deal.
The most recent bout of optimism on the possibility of sales of the Rafale to the UAE came in September this year after a visit to Paris by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Rafale’s best hope for an export order now is a competition to supply 126 fighters to the Indian air force, a competition in which its only rival is the Typhoon.
Dassault was not available for comment on Sunday.
Blow to Rafale as UAE eyes Eurofighter - FT.com
Silly french always jumping the gun
The news will come as a blow to the French government, which has strong military links with the UAE and had invested considerable political capital in recent months on lobbying the country’s government to choose the French-made jet.
Stealth fighters India and Russia form groundbreaking partnership but US rival tries to muscle in
France shifts foreign focus to Gulf with naval base in UAE
Eurofighter, the consortium maker of the Typhoon, confirmed on Sunday that the UAE had approached the UK government for a briefing on the Typhoon and its capabilities. A briefing with the UAE took place on October 17 and shortly after this the UAE government put in a “request for proposal” (RFP) to Eurofighter, inviting it to submit an offer to supply 60 jets.
“Eurofighter received an RFP from the government of the UAE and we are working on submitting a response as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson for Eurofighter said on Sunday.
Eurofighter is a consortium comprising BAE Systems of the UK, Finmeccanica of Italy and the pan-European aerospace group EADS.
The UAE air force’s combat fleet is composed of about 60 Lockheed Martin F-16s and 60 older Mirage 2000s, which are made by Dassault, the maker of the Rafale. The UAE’s fleet of F-16s is relatively recent and thus any new combat aircraft it chooses will replace the Mirage jets.
France has been promoting the sale of Rafale aircraft abroad for several years but the jet has yet to find an export customer outside France. The Typhoon, by contrast, has won orders in both Austria and Saudi Arabia, in addition to the four “launch” nations that collaborated on developing the jet in Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain.
France’s sales drive in the UAE has been in train for more than three years now. At several points during that time, French policymakers have expressed confidence that they were very close to signing a deal.
The most recent bout of optimism on the possibility of sales of the Rafale to the UAE came in September this year after a visit to Paris by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Rafale’s best hope for an export order now is a competition to supply 126 fighters to the Indian air force, a competition in which its only rival is the Typhoon.
Dassault was not available for comment on Sunday.
Blow to Rafale as UAE eyes Eurofighter - FT.com
Silly french always jumping the gun
