FX-2, Rafale operational capacity ahead of competitors

Dassault Virtual Reality Center (VRC), ©Dassault/A.Fevrier.

This is what Jean-Marc Merialdo, Rafale representative in Brazil, said to the IG journalist during an interview about the FX-2 contest.

According to Merialdo, the primary asset of the Rafale is the unrestricted transfer of technology garanted by the French presidency :

[...]"Our package of technology transfer is priceless. It is total, complete, all the technology of the fighter"
" full and complete package of technological and industrial cooperation , including know-how, software, hardware, processes and delivers all the tools and source code needed without any restriction."
[...]
"The ToT is guaranteed by the French government and is based on a range of partnerships with Brazilian industry and universities, and falls into a strategic partnership signed between President Lula and Sarkozy at the end of 2008."

When asked about the technical benefits of Rafale over its 2 competitors, Merialdo said that the French fighter is more modern than the F/A-18E and more powerfull (range, payload) than the Gripen. He also emphasized on the data fusion which allows the plane to gather data from internal and external sensors and to conduct several missions during the same flight as demonstrated in Libya.

Concerning the usual claim that the Rafale is the most expensive of the 3 fighters Merialdo was rather elusive :
[...] "In a competition you do not disclose your price if you don't want to give some advantage to your competitors. About the cost of operation, I can not give you the figure for now, because they are being further refined, especially with the operation in Libya. I can say that they are constantly decreasing."
[...]

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