We are off since December 10, but we are back tomorrow.
until then enjoy this Rafale solo display video from the Dubai Air show.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Centaures, a new comic book staring the Rafale
All the technical details have been checked and approved by 2 French Navy Officers, Commander Fabre and Rafale pilot Captain Guillaume Jacob which is a garanty for high realism.
A dozen of pages of the comic book can be seen on their web site as well as several videos from the French Navy.
More high resolution pages here and production drawing here
Friday, December 9, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Brazil, 2 new Aircraft carriers in sight ?
2 days ago, French defense journalist Jean Guisnel published an article confirming that Brazil is indeed seeking an industrial partnership in order to build 2 CATOBAR aircraft carriers. Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim would have tackled the subjet when he came to France on October 18 (19 ?). According to Jean Guisnel article, the Brazilian decision would be expected in 12 or 18 months.
This is of course a very important news as the aircraft selected for those carriers will most probably be the same as the FX-2 winner. If so, this is an advantage for the Rafale and the F/A-18E as they both are carrier capable.
MMRCA, rumors of an announcement tomorrow
The MMRCA winner should be revealed this month as the Dassault and EADS bids are expiring at the end of the year but most experts are expecting the annoucement to be made during the second half of December since Air Force Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne statement on Novemeber 18.
On the other hand, It's been one full month since the opening of the bids on November 4 and the Indian Ministry of Defense had stated then that 3 to 4 for weeks would be necessary to assess both offers and select the best one.
So, as usual, wait and see...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Rafale production, secured beyond 2020 at least
Gérard Longuet revient sur les difficultés du... par LCP
Wednesday December 7, During an interview on LCP TV , French defense Minister Gerard Longuet stated that the Rafale production will be stopped if the Plane is not exported after the French forces have received all their airframes. The claim was immediatly spread out of context in many French and international media giving the impression that the production was about to be stopped which is obviously not the case as it is expected to run at least until 2018 (as reminded by Longuet) and most probably until 2022-25 at the current pace.
Edit december 8 :
To clarify Gerard Longuet statement, the Ministry of Defense has issued an official note stating :
"If Dassault does not export the Rafale, The production for the French army will not end before 2030. The deliveries will spread long after 2020. In the meantime, the aircraft will get upgrades between 2020 and 2030"
Malaysia, official Rafale international website
Also read Flight Global article
Friday, December 2, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)