Tuesday, February 22, 2011

IDEX 2011, Fighter market heats up in the Gulf

Janes brief on the major possible fighter jet deals ongoing in the Gulf region.
If the Saudi have already chosen to buy 80 more F-15SA and upgrade their current fleet as well, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Irak are still negociating with US and European  fighter jet manufacturers.

The Rafale is a very strong contender in the UAE (60), Kuwait (28) and Qatar (24-36).
it has also been proposed to Oman (12), but this maket seems to be secured by the British Typhoon.

In Irak, second hand F-16, Mirage F1 or Mirage 2000 could be bought unless the country decides to postpone the acquisition due to more urgent social fundings.

According to DefenseNews, the negociation between France and the UAE about he Rafale are back on tract :

"The discussions are going well," the [Dassault] executive said. An announcement on the Rafale was not expected in the near term, he said. In the short term, Dassault was supporting the Mirage 2000 operated by the UAE, while the Rafale was seen as a medium- or long-term prospect, he said.
[...]
Subsequently, relations were smoothed out between France and Abu Dhabi.
"They managed to fix it," a gulf defense official said. "The talks are back on."

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