9 factors that may have helped Dassault sell its Rafale fighter this week | idrw.org
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9 factors that may have helped Dassault sell its Rafale fighter this week
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Many global arms industry observers were
surprised this week when the Indian Air
Force announced that it had chosen French
firm Dassault Aviation as its preferred bidder for a
roughly $11-billion deal to supply India with 126
jet fighters. After all, despite 12 years of heavy
sales bombardments all over the world that
sometimes even included the president, only
theFrench air force has ever actually bought the
Rafale.
The deal isn’t done yet – the French have just
won the right to an exclusive negotiation – but it
is close enough that shares in Dassault shot up
by 20% the day of the announcement.
So how did Dassault finally pull it off? And not
just any deal, but what some say is the biggest
cross-border military aviation contract of all time?
Of course, the Indian government said it went to
the low bidder, but that seems unlikely –
particularly since the final price hasn’t been set,
and no one picks up jet planes just because
they’re on sale.
The Deal
French firm Dassault won $11 billion contract to
supply 126 Rafale jets.
Snapped it up with lower bid
against Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.
The size of the contract could eventually go up to
200 aircraft.
The Aircraft
Rafale is a twin-engined, delta-wing jet Can fly up
to 2,130 km per hour in high altitude.
In service for the French Air Force since 2006.
Has been playing air support roles in Afghan war
Part of Nato campaign in Libya in 2011.
The Company
Dassault family is the majority owner. EADS, a
co-producer of competing Typhoon, owns 46%
of the equity.
The company has delivered 7,500 civil & military
aircraft to 75 countries.
Dassault came close to selling aircraft to Brazil and
Switzerland, but failed to secure a contract as yet.
UAE was reportedly in final negotiations to buy
60 Rafale in June 2010, but drama unfolded when
Eurofighter Typhoon was allowed to submit a
counter-offer.
French defence minister gave an ultimatum that
Rafale production would be halted if the jets could
be sold abroad.
And The Snag
The file containing the offset proposals of
contenders went missing in December 2010.
Later found on the roadside in south Delhi. The
episode threatened to derail the tendering process
itself.
Others in the race
Six contenders were subjected to extensive field
evaluation trials.
Four aircraft eliminated last year on technical
grounds were American Lockheed Martin’s F-16
and Boeing’s F/A-18, Russian United Aircraft
Corporation’s MiG-35 and Swedish SAAB’s Gripen
With billions on the table, and the national
security at stake, the French plane must have
edged out the multi-national Eurofighter for a
number of reasons. Nine possibilities:
A BETTER LUNCH
Of course, nobody makes an important decision
for the food, but the prospect of hanging out in
Bordeaux, home of the Dassault assembly line,
instead of Halbergmoos, Germany, couldn’t have
hurt. On the one hand, you’re in the heart of the
French wine country, in a rich and sunny part of
France. On the other, you’re in cold, grey Bavaria,
facing a few years of sausages, sauerkraut, and
beer served in mugs the size of small aquariums.
