UAE Eyes Moving Mirage Fighters to Iraq's Kurdish Areas, Procuring Rafales

[Vergennes]

Emirati military personnel stand near two French Rafale jet fighters and an Emirati Mirage 2000-9 in 2009 at a military base near Abu Dhabi


DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates is awaiting final assurances from France and the Iraqi government to sell its fleet of Dassault Mirage 2000-9s before completing their deal for 60 Rafale fighters, Defense News has learned.

The UAE has been looking to sell its fleet of Mirage fighters to the Iraqi Air Force since 2011 and over the years discussions have faltered due to France blocking the deal, according to a UAE government official and a French source knowledgeable about the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The intended deal would see the UAE initially provide 10 aircraft to the Iraqi Air Force, with the funds paid directly to Dassault as part of the down payment for the UAE's Rafale deal.

The well-informed French source stated that in its efforts to reduce the costs of the deal and finalize the agreement the French government has waived military service fees involved in the contract reducing the overall cost by 10 percent.

"To facilitate the Rafale deal, the government has taken over the 'airco' cost of training, maintenance support and other military-provided services to reduce the cost for the UAE," he said.

The UAE source stated that the expected cost of each aircraft is expected to be around $250 million for a total cost of $15 billion.

According to the UAE source, the latest discussions on the deal for the Rafale was on Jan. 18 at the al-Bahr Palace in Abu Dhabi.

During a visit to Abu Dhabi this week, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said about the Rafale deal: "There are continuing talks, we are optimistic (French Defence Minister) Jean-Yves Le Drian and I ... things look positive."

"Agreements only become a reality after they are signed. However, we touched on this subject with the Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan when we met with him on Monday in Abu Dhabi," Fabius said.

The Iraqi Angle

The UAE is in discussions with Iraq's government to have the Mirages operate in Kurdistan, the UAE source stated.

"We want to provide these fighters to the Kurdish territories but the Iraqi central government has requested the provision of these fighters to them," the source said.

The source added that since September, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has made a number of visits to the UAE and held extensive discussions on the matter.

"The Iraqi government assured us that the Kurdish territories will be protected and we are awaiting the French decision now," he stated.

According to Wathaq al-Hashimi, director of the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies, Iraq has presented its case to the UAE and is very keen to acquire the aircraft.

"The ball now is in the UAE's court, the Iraqi government wants the aircraft to be based in Al Balad Air Base and will be used in operations from Kurdistan to Al Faw in the south," Hashimi said.

In January 2015, the UAE offered up to 10 Mirage 2000-9s to the Iraqi Air Force, following a visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to Abu Dhabi.

The same UAE source said at the time that the UAE is trying to fortify Iraq's security from north to south, specifically the areas from Baghdad to Erbil.

"Mainly, Erbil because many UAE strategic interests are there with regards to oil and gas investments as well as others," he said last year.

The UAE has 36 multirole Mirage 2000 fighters that have been in service since 1986, 30 of which have been extensively refurbished and then upgraded to the same standard as the newer fleet of 32 Mirage 2000-9s delivered starting in 2003 by France's Dassault Aviation.

The technologies and advanced capabilities that the Mirage 2000-9s incorporate include Dassault's "Rafale technology," with similar modular avionics, an LCD glass cockpit with full night-vision goggles compatibility, and advanced sensors and systems, according to the Bader 21 purchase agreement signed in 1998.

At the core of the Mirage 2000-9's navigation and attack system is a Thales- and Dassault-developed modular data-processing unit similar to the one used in the Rafale. This serves as the mission computer, manages the navigation and attack system, controls the cockpit display system and generates symbology for the head-up and head-down displays. As a result, the Mirage 2000-9 is claimed to enjoy a world-beating, highly intuitive man-machine interface.

UAE Eyes Moving Mirage Fighters to Iraq's Kurdish Areas, Procuring Rafales
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@United @Khafee

 

[Blue Marlin]

The UAE source stated that the expected cost of each aircraft is expected to be around $250 million for a total cost of $15 billion.

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@United @Khafee

250 million each!! day light robbery!!!! and there's me thinking the the typhoon is expensive.
its stupid, oh well their money their way. i dont even think f15se's cost over 200 million.

now the french are sucking up to middle eastern countries in return for business. we did that and got an order from saudi arabia. it back fired with the scandals and laundering. now david is playing it safe but still making sure we still get some business.

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

@Blue Marlin when was the last time the Gulf Arabs cared about the finances? Money shoots out of the ground for them.

But as the oil prices go down they'll be less willing to provide aid to finance their foreign policy. They're being reigned in for their past faults all without the necessity of war or diplomatic pressure.

 

[Blue Marlin]

@Blue Marlin when was the last time the Gulf Arabs cared about the finances? Money shoots out of the ground for them.

But as the oil prices go down they'll be less willing to provide aid to finance their foreign policy. They're being reigned in for their past faults all without the necessity of war or diplomatic pressure.

true money does come from the ground but, the money coming out of the ground is not worth a lot, and what they already have is being burned on war. some may hate me for saying this but i hope they go broke. why? it will smack senses into them not just the uae, saudi arabia first would be great. once they realise that money is hard to get not just from the ground it will reign them in.

 

[Sully3]

$250 million day light robbery, can't believe the Sheiks are agreeing to this deal.

How much are the Indian Rafale costing ?

 

[Vergennes]

250 million each!! day light robbery!!!! and there's me thinking the the typhoon is expensive.
its stupid, oh well their money their way. i dont even think f15se's cost over 200 million.

now the french are sucking up to middle eastern countries in return for business. we did that and got an order from saudi arabia. it back fired with the scandals and laundering. now david is playing it safe but still making sure we still get some business.

The "250 million each" figure is most likely false as it doesn't include training,armaments etc. (We don't really know what such a deal could include)
Instead they just did ; ~€15Bn/60 jets.
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Using the same logic,you sold to Kuwait 28 Typhoons,a deal that is estimated at about ~€8Bn. (~285M each).

 

[Sully3]

$250m for a plane that can be easily countered by a F22, F35, SU35 and a few J series fighters


Unbelievably stupid deal

 

[Red Wolf]

The UAE source stated that the expected cost of each aircraft is expected to be around $250 million for a total cost of $15 billion.

 

[Saquib]

Just a thought - When UAE get the Rafales PAF pilots should fly the Rafales and give feed back on it performance?

 

[dadeechi]

$250 million day light robbery, can't believe the Sheiks are agreeing to this deal.

How much are the Indian Rafale costing ?

Indian deal is in the same range per unit (Initial deal of $9 Billion for 36 units) but Indian deal would be higher in numbers when we add the local Indian manufacturing component of the deal. The total deal with India would be $50+ billion dollars

 

[Blue Marlin]

The "250 million each" figure is most likely false as it doesn't include training,armaments etc. (We don't really know what such a deal could include)
Instead they just did ; ~€15Bn/60 jets.
-
Using the same logic,you sold to Kuwait 28 Typhoons,a deal that is estimated at about ~€8Bn. (~285M each).

i dont think you smelt the slight wiff of sarcasm in the first post? i almost find it a sin to find the value of something [each] by dividing the total value by the quantity. most likely it would be just shy of 90-100 million. i was told india is paying 110 million each. but that includes third party kit from israel.

 

[Khafee]

250 million each!! day light robbery!!!! and there's me thinking the the typhoon is expensive.
its stupid, oh well their money their way. i dont even think f15se's cost over 200 million.

now the french are sucking up to middle eastern countries in return for business. we did that and got an order from saudi arabia. it back fired with the scandals and laundering. now david is playing it safe but still making sure we still get some business.

I'm sure this figure of US$250m/ aircraft includes other things. You do have to keep in mind when the UAE bought the M2K-9 it was the most advanced M2K, even better than the French Air Force, same goes for the F-16 Blk60. when inducted, and even now, it is the most advances F-16. The UAE AF always goes for customization, which insures the aircrafts stay cutting edge atleast for a decade.

Since day one, we have been insisting on a higher thrust engine, AESA radar and other things. So IF this deal goes through, a we could be bearing some of the R&D / customization cost.

Secondly, do keep in mind that we were the 1st users of SCALP EG / Storm Shadow / Black Shaheen. In this deal something similar could be coming along as well.

 

[kaykay]

I think 250 million included weapons, training, infra, and life time maintenance which justifies the cost.

 

[C130]

250 million each!! day light robbery!!!! and there's me thinking the the typhoon is expensive.
its stupid, oh well their money their way. i dont even think f15se's cost over 200 million.

now the french are sucking up to middle eastern countries in return for business. we did that and got an order from saudi arabia. it back fired with the scandals and laundering. now david is playing it safe but still making sure we still get some business.

rich Arabs don't understand the value of bang for buck.


why buy a Toyota Corolla when you can buy a Lexus


they could buy the rights to Gripen E and almost all the technology and still have plenty of money left over

hell even the U.S would be smart to go for Gripen E over the F-35
American Gripen: The Solution To The F-35 Nightmare | The Daily Caller
just want to waste money because they can.

 

[Khafee]

rich Arabs don't understand the value of bang for buck.


why buy a Toyota Corolla when you can buy a Lexus


they could buy the rights to Gripen E and almost all the technology and still have plenty of money left over

hell even the U.S would be smart to go for Gripen E over the F-35
American Gripen: The Solution To The F-35 Nightmare | The Daily Caller
just want to waste money because they can.

Silly comment, didn't expect it from you of all people.

The Gripen itself doesn't own the most critical parts, the engine and the radar.

Secondly, it has a single engine, and that to seriously under powered.

I think 250 million included weapons, training, infra, and life time maintenance which justifies the cost.

Contracts like these do not include infrastructure cost, or maintenance cost. Only aircraft, weapons, spares for "X" number of months, pilot and technical-staff training.