Today, our Minister of Defence, Gérard Longuet, while invited by some aerospace journalists, talked about several topics...
Besides the tankers matter, he talked about the situation of Qatar (24 fighters) and Kuwait (18 to 22 fighters), two countries interested in Rafale, under a particular condition : they may pick the Rafale, but UAE have to lead the way. Longuet said the discussion with UAE are still under way, with no disruption, though admitting they are rightfully hard to please, given the complexity of such a deal.
Brazil, on the other hand, would have other priorities, and no short term decision is expected. Meanwhile, Mr Longuet kept on a positive stance about India. That's interesting since at the same time, Typhoon is rumoured to be the L1...
Lastly, Longuet made it clear that up to now, France is far from thinking about cutting Rafale orders.
Sources :
Defense News
Usine Nouvelle
LiveFist
An obvious question is why Qatar and Kuwait would be "waiting" for an UAE stamp of approval on Rafale? Of the six GCC states, Bahrain and Oman have selected advanced F16 and Saudi have selected advanced F15E and Typhoon to answer the rising Iran. Falcon and Typhoon are strong contenders in this regional market.
ReplyDeleteAny news for AESA radar and HMD helmet?
ReplyDeleteThe first serie Rafale with a production AESA is about to be delivered to our Air Force. It's the C137 and should arrive in a few weeks. Nothing new about the helmet.
ReplyDeleteThere rumours that Qatar and Kuwait would link their deals to the UAE's... That's all I can say.