Reuters : Sarkozy promises Brazil fighter jet technology

Rafale B - Cruzex 2010 - Natal Air Base

(Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised Brazil his government would support Dassault's proposed technology transfer of its new fighter jet as the company seeks an edge in its bid to win a multibillion-dollar Brazilian military contract.
Brazil, which wants to rebuild and expand its dilapidated fleet of air force jets, has been considering offers from France's Dassault Aviation AVMC.PA, Boeing (BA.N) and Sweden's Saab (SAABb.ST) .
Aside from the price and tactical considerations of Dassault's Rafale, Boeing's F-18 and Saab's Griffon, Brazil needs a technology transfer to help create jobs by manufacturing modern fighters at home and potentially exporting them to neighbors in Latin America.
Dassault's Rafale, which has been struggling to repeat the success of foreign sales of the company's Mirage jet, appeared close to clinching its first foreign deal with former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had said he preferred the French plane over its rivals.
But Lula's successor, Dilma Rousseff, appears to be leaning toward Boeing's F-18 after saying she wanted to rethink all the finalists' bids. Since taking office in January, Rousseff has pursued stronger political ties with the United States.
She met with Senator John McCain earlier this year in Brasilia and is preparing to welcome U.S. President Barack Obama next week in his first visit to Latin America's largest country.
In an interview published on Saturday in Brazilian magazine Veja, Sarkozy said the French government would guarantee the transfer of core technology for the Rafale if Brazil opted for the Dassault bid to provide 36 jets.
"The offer that we made is accompanied by the unrestricted transfer of technology guaranteed by the French state," Sarkozy said, "which neither of the other two competitors have the condition to do with credibility."
The proposed deals, with initial offers ranging from $4 billion to $6 billion, potentially involves the purchase of more than 100 aircraft.
The deal is the cornerstone of Brazil's plans to bolster defense capabilities as it tries to leverage its growing economy into global political clout. (Reporting by Reese Ewing; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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Rafale news comment : This Reuters article seems to have missed the fact that Dilma Rousseff has denied any preference for the F-18E or any other aircraft.

MMRCA goes hot : the Rafale team under bribery attacks

The tension surrounding the Indian deal is increasing fast since it has been announced that the shortlist could be made public next month.
Rumors of bribery attempts during Aero India have surfaced : Apparently, an India officer in charge of the static display tried to get money from Dassault in exchange of a better slot on the parking. Dassault complained to the Aero India authorities who set a trap to catch the man when he came to get the money. What is very odd is the amount of the bribe asked by the officer, which is ridiculous (less than $500)
One might wonder why someone would take risks for such a small price unless, may be, it was a deliberate attempt to discredit Dassault.

A quite similar case occured during the final run of the Korean contest in 2002. The Dassault Rafale was then competing against the Boeing F-15K. After the end of the technical evaluation, the Rafale was leading the race and Dassault was suddenly accused to have bribed a Korean officer to promote the Rafale offer. It is worth noting that the bribe in question was also very low ($8,300) and eventually proved to be bogus.

It seems that the history is repeating in India and that the game is once again turning dirty. Since the begining of the MMRCA competition, the Indian authorities have insisted on the fact that bribery would not be tolerated. In this context, one tricky mind might try to manipulate his competitors and  lead them to make an illegal move that would disqualify them..

Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/
Also read :http://www.flightglobal.com/

Serpentex 2011

Rafale C and Mirage 2000D

The first stage of  Serpentex 2011 is taking place on the Air Base 126 in Corsica between March 8th and 17th.
3 Rafale participate in the exercise alongside 6 mirage 2000 D, 4 Mirage 2000N, 3 Mirage 2000 C, 3 Mirage F1 CR as well as aircrafts from USA, Italy, UK, Slovakia and Belgium.

The purpose of Serpentex is to prepare the crews to the Afghan theater : The Training is focusing on Close Air Support missions in mountainous environment. The work with Forward Air Controlers in an all english speaking network is also one of the main training axis for the French pilots.

For its next deployement to Afghanistan this year, the Rafale will be equiped for the first time with the Damocles LDP and the Rover data link system.

Source : http://www.defense.gouv.fr/

Edit : Air&Cosmos and Air Forces Monthly report that the first tests of Damocles in Afghanistan have been perform by the Rafale M of the CdG last january 2nd.

166th Martin Baker MK-16F delivered

MB MK-16F Rafale ejection seat

In the last issue of Air Actualite, we can learn that SEM MB (Societe d'Exploitation des Materiels Martin Baker) the French branch of the British ejection seat company has delivered the 166 th Rafale MK-16F seat to the French Forces.
Since the Rafale is in operational service, the MK-16F has saved 3 Rafale M pilots : M16 (runway overshoot) M22 (mid air collision with M25) and M18 (ran out of fuel)

Rafale pictures of the day

MMRCA short list to be announced first week of April

According to Aviation Week, a MMRCA short list of 2 or possibly 3 fighters on the 6 contenders should be made public in early april.
The 2/3 finalists will then have 6 months to provide their offset proposals. Indeed, the final choice could be made in September.
Rafale and Typhoon are said to be the leading contenders.

Rafale B316 crash report available

Crash site of Rafale B316

The BEAD's report about the crash of the Rafale B316 has been released.
December 6th 2007, 4 Rafale of the Provence squadron are performing a BVR combat training over Correze. At 05:24 pm, after 19 minutes of combat, the Rafale B316 hit the ground killing its pilot, Captain Emmanuel Moriuser.
4 years later, this official report confirms that the crash might have been due to a spatial disorientation of the pilot.Apparently, the pilot had deactivated 2 altitude warning/safety systems, increasing the time to recover his altitude reference after several high G turns in poor visibility conditions.   
No issue with the flight performances of the plane was found.

Following this crash, the BEAD has recommended

• the implementation of an automatic recovery system (activated by the pilot) for the Rafale.
• the ability to display the IPS (ADI) data on the Head level display.
• The modification of the Helmet dark visor holding system