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080722-N-7571S-001 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 22, 2008) A French F-2 Rafale launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during the first integrated U.S. and French carrier qualifications aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is participating in Joint Task Force Exercise "Operation Brimstone" off the Atlantic coast. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Snyder/Released) 080721-N-7241L-009 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 21, 2008) A French Rafale M prepares to land aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during combined French and American carrier qualifications. This event marks the first...

Middle East Buyers Target French Fighter Jet Lionel Laurent, LONDON - It's been 23 years, but finally the French "Rafale" fighter jet is close to getting a foreign buyer. The French government is currently negotiating orders of up to 100 Rafales with interested buyers from abroad, according to a radio interview with President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief-of-staff on Wednesday. The twin-engine, multi-purpose aircraft, which is manufactured by Dassault Aviation, has not had a single export order during its 23-year lifespan. Dassault would not comment on the discussions, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed that the United Arab Emirates and...

UAE eyes France's Rafale fighter ABU DHABI (AFP) — The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday 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 under way between the UAE government and France," he said. The official did not give more details but the oil-rich...

ILA 2008: Indian bids add spice With India prominently labelled as the show’s ‘official partner country’, the importance of the Indian market, and the growing power of India’s aerospace industry is being underlined and highlighted at Schoenefeld. Jon Lake reports With the recent, long awaited release of a $10 billion request for proposals (RFP), India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition is hotting up, and the main contenders are all present at Berlin, doubtless hoping to impress and persuade India that theirs is the best choice as India’s next fighter. Originally launched as the Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) requirement, the...

U.S. trying to thwart Rafale sales -French minister Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:13am EST PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The United States is seeking to undermine France's efforts to sell its Rafale advanced fighter jet, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Thursday. The Rafale is a next-generation, multirole combat aircraft, and has been a flagship programme for France's arms industry, but has yet to find an export buyer. Morin last year criticised the Rafale, saying its sophisticated hardware was hard to sell against cheaper Lockheed (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) F-16s, but on Thursday he sang its praises and said...

The Big Engine That Couldn't Joshua Levine 02.25.08, 12:00 AM ET France's Dassault has a great new fighter jet-- that no one wants to buy. Hervé Morin, France's new defense minister, has an easy smile, but he didn't have an easy time keeping it during the press conference he gave in mid-December. Morin was outlining a new program to cut through the bureaucratic logjam that was hampering French weapons exports. Weapons mean almost as much to the French economy as wine. The nation sells three times as many dollars' worth of fighter planes, frigates and tanks as it does champagne--$9...

France offers to supply 40 Rafale fighters to IAF New Delhi (PTI): As President Nicolas Sarkozy began talks with Indian leaders to boost Indo-French ties, a French company on Friday offered to sell 40 of its new generation Rafale fighters to New Delhi on a fast track basis to help IAF maintain its combat edge. The offer was made by Charles Edelstennie, scion of the Dassult family, the makers of the Rafale and Mirage fighters. "We know Indian Air Force, with which we have a decade-long close association, is facing force depletion. So we are ready to supply 40 Rafales,...

Excerpt - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi arrives in Paris Monday for a high-profile visit set to usher in multi-billion-euro nuclear and aviation contracts, even as critics lashed President Nicolas Sarkozy for welcoming the former pariah. Staying in a heated Bedouin tent pitched near the Elysee presidential palace, Kadhafi is expected during the five-day visit to approve the purchase of three billion euros (4.4 billion dollars) of Airbus planes, a nuclear reactor and possibly Rafale fighter jets. ~ snip ~

France to sell Libya up to 14 fighter jets - report Wed Dec 5, 2007 PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - France could sell between 10 and 14 "Rafale" combat aircraft to Libya during a state visit to Paris by Muammar Gaddafi, La Tribune newspaper reported on Wednesday. Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), which builds the Rafale, declined to comment on the report. The office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy also declined to comment. Gaddafi is due to visit France for five days from Dec. 10, La Tribune said. It will be his first visit in more than 30 years....

French launch post-mortem on Morocco jet deal Tue 23 Oct 2007, 20:09 GMT By Tim Hepher and Elisabeth Pineau PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - France trumpeted business successes during a trip by President Nicolas Sarkozy to Morocco on Tuesday, but a post mortem has already begun into how Paris was snubbed over a major fighter order, defence analysts said. In a surprise blow to France's standing in the region, industry sources said Morocco had cancelled interest in French Rafale combat jets and opted for cheaper F-16s from the United States, casting a pall over Sarkozy's first visit as president. After...

AFX News Limited French defence minister criticises Rafale costs 09.19.07, 9:16 AM ET PARIS (Thomson Financial) - France's defence minister Herve Morin has criticised the development costs of Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter jet. Morin also questioned the use of 'hypertechnology' in the defence industry, saying that some industry experts estimate the top 5 pct of technology in a programme could add as much as 20 or 25 pct to the cost. 'Hypertechnology is also a barrier to exports for a certain number of countries because they don't need equipment for high intensity combat,' Morin said. Morin stressed that he thinks...

Rafales go to Afghanistan as French commitment grows By Helen Massy-Beresford Air force and navy to deploy six aircraft to Tajikistan in support of ISAF mission France is in the process of sending six Dassault Rafale C/M fighters to support ground troops serving as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Three air force and three navy F2 software-standard aircraft were scheduled to leave for the region on 10 March as part of France's Operation Serpentaire. Their deployment follows the recent completion of ground and flight tests and crew training activities at the air force's CEAM test...

FRANCE is seeking to usurp Britain as favourite to win air defence contracts with Saudi Arabia worth up to £40bn (€59bn, $72bn) to British defence contractor, BAE Systems. President Jacques Chirac has had face to face meetings with King Abdullah and was the first foreign dignitary to visit the desert kingdom after the funeral of King Fahd in August, The Business has learned. Saudi Arabia is looking to upgrade some of its ageing 96 Tornados, supplied by BAE Systems, but also to buy new fighter jets in a bid to bolster its air power. The UK is offering the Eurofighter...

Eurofighter faces new challenger Putin to lead business delegation Russia will pitch its new combat jet for a $9 billion (£4.5 billion) Indian defence contract, adding to fierce competition among European companies for one of the largest orders by any air force. Sergei Ivanov, the Defence Minister, said that Russia would submit the MiG-35, an advanced version of the MiG-29, to the tender for 126 light fighter aircraft as the Indian Air Force seeks to upgrade its ageing fleet of Russian-made MiG-21s and British Jaguars. India’s military, the world’s third-largest with 1.3 million active personnel, plans to buy new fighters...

Rafale Strike Version Enters Operation With French Air Force By Michael A. Taverna 07/02/2006 11:22:38 PM SHOWTIME The Dassault Rafale F2 strike aircraft is poised to enter the French air force inventory, augmenting Europe's force-projection capability and opening a new chapter in the battle with rival U.S. and European manufacturers for lucrative foreign military sales contracts. The first F2 squadron stood up at the St. Dizier air base in eastern France last week, in the presence of a host of dignitaries led by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. The high-profile event underscored not only the operational and industrial importance of...

FEBRUARY 2006 India’s quest for fighter could cost losers dearly By Reuben F. Johnson / Asian Aerospace February 2006 The Indian Air Force’s (IAF) medium multirole combat aircraft (M-MRCA) tender is beginning to resemble a free-for-all that shows no signs of abating and will continue for several years. What makes this tender an unusual one, however, is that the type of radar and onboard systems which will be included in the deal, the co-production arrangements to provide work for local Indian industry and geopolitical considerations are going to carry far more weight in the decision process than the actual choice...

Anglo-US defence deals in jeopardy Tom McGhie and Jack Gee, Mail on Sunday 26 February 2006 BRITAIN may consider buying up to 150 French fighter jets for two new-generation aircraft carriers scheduled to go into service with the Royal Navy in 2013. If the Government went ahead with the £5bn deal, it would mean cancelling existing US contracts to supply aircraft for the carriers and could cause a major crisis in Anglo-American relations. The unexpected verbal offer to buy the Rafale Marine jets came on January 24 when Defence Secretary John Reid met his opposite number, Michele Alliot-Marie, for crucial...

France may offer Rafale for Mirage SHIV AROOR Posted online: Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 0455 hours IST NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15: When French President Jacques Chirac arrives in New Delhi on February 19, he will make it a point to tell Indian authorities about the formal withdrawal of the Mirage-2000-5 fighter from the bid for 126 combat aircraft that the IAF is looking at. In its place, he will formally offer the Rafale multirole fighter. In what has taken the IAF completely by surprise, considering it has unofficially been gunning for the Mirage, the French government has conveyed its...

UK lobbying for selling Eurofighter to IAF A delegation of cross-party MPs and businessmen from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce are currently on a visit to London. FROM SHYAM BHATIA DH NEWS SERVICE, LONDON: The British government is “pushing hard” for India to purchase the Eurofighter for the IAF, a visiting Indian MP has revealed. Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is co-chair of a delegation of cross-party MPs and businessmen from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) currently visiting London, told Deccan Herald that the issue of selling the Eurofighter, developed jointly by the...