MMRCA, 10 more days and more rumors

Last air refueling before the announcement ?

On January 4, the MMRCA annoucement was to be made in 3 more weeks. Now, on January 16, it is intended to occur in 10 days or at least before the end of January. as per the last reports in the India press quoting sources from the IAF and the Ministry of Defense. So, it seems that the schedule is still more or less on track.

The Indian Express reports :

" The proposals of the two contenders — French Dassault Rafale and EADS Eurofighter — have been scrutinised and final calculations related to life cycle costs and transfer of technology details are being finalised. While IAF sources have said the winner would be announced in the next 10 days, Defence Ministry officials said the decision would be announced by the end of this month."
[...]
"The final signing of the contract, however could take up to six months, the sources said. The original plan was to sign the contract this financial year, but it could be shifted beyond March."

Now the rumors of the week :

• Rumor N°1 : The Rafale package would be L1. What to think about this rumor ? Well, last week, it was supposed to be the Eurofighter, so it's a draw.
• Rumor N°2 : Eurofighter partners, BAE and EADS would "dispute" each other in order to be the prime bidder of the consortium in India. Formally, it is EADS which is in charge of the Indian market. The question is why would BAE try to interfer with EADS leadership so late in the process ?
• Rumor N°3 : Dassault would have just hired a famous Indian Public Relation firm. If true, this move rises the same question ... why so late in the process ? 

All the answers in 10 days !

RAF General visits Rafale Base

Royal Air Force General Simon Bryant visited the Saint Dizier Air Base on January 9. The Rafale system, as used in Libya, was presented to him by the technicians and officers of the Rafale squadrons. He Also flew a mission in a Rafale simulator. The Saint Dizier Air Base hosts some 40 Rafale.
Source: defense.gouv.fr

Rafale pictures of the day : Training at Hyeres Naval Base

Lot of pictures of the 12F Rafale M squadron training at Hyeres air base during November-December 2011
from pics-aeronef

pictures credits: Boubou, Yocool83, Tiger83, Majb, Aurelien83

Serge Dassault confident about a first Rafale export soon ?

Serge Dassault on I-Tele

Sunday January 15, during a debate about French economic issues on I-Tele, Senator Serge Dassault, president of Groupe Dassault, estimates that  good news about Rafale export could be announced soon. However, he didn't tell  which country could be concerned by this export.
The current 3 main export prospects for the Rafale are India, the UAE and Brazil.

Source : www.itele.fr

MMRCA, Thursday rumored meeting denied

According to Indian Defense Journalist Shiv Aroor, the Indian MoD would have denied any meeting with EADS and Dassault Aviation on Thursday 12, contradicting the rumors leaked by Indian newspaper LiveMint last Monday.
If the Indian Ministry of defense sticks to its previous announcement, the 3 weeks delay to decide the L1 bidder should expire next week.
So as usual, wait and see...

French defence ministry awards innovative availability contract for Thales equipment on board Rafale fleet

Thales FSO TV camera

Official Thales press relase
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10 January 2012 – The French defence ministry’s integrated structure for through-life support of aeronautical equipment (SIMMAD) has awarded Thales the contract to support its equipment on board the Rafale aircraft in service with the French Air Force and French Navy. The ten-year contract, known as MAESTRO, is a renewal of the current through-life support contract and broadens the scope of responsibility to ensure that Thales works more closely with operational personnel to guarantee fleet availability.

Under the terms of the contract, Thales is responsible for supporting the Rafale’s phased array radar, electronic warfare system, avionics (displays, onboard computers, etc.), optronics (OSF front-sector optronics, cameras, etc.) and communication systems.

To guarantee fleet availability, Thales will optimise replacement parts management, logistics management and information flows between government agencies and Thales services, streamline equipment repair processes and deploy technical and logistics advisers to work directly with users on French military bases.

The fixed-price availability contract represents a major innovation in through-life support delivery and coincides with an increase in Rafale flight hours and the need to comply with tougher military airworthiness standards.

Merry Michaux, Vice-President, Military Aerospace Customer Support and Services Managing Director at Thales said: “Thales is particularly proud to have been awarded this new contract, which we see as a sign of renewed confidence in a trusted partner and an endorsement of our continuing commitment to drive efficiency gains in aeronautical equipment support. The innovative concepts and collaborative working methods that we are putting in place on military bases and shared platforms will make a significant contribution to optimising availability of the Rafale fleet and bringing down the aircraft’s cost per flying hour.”

The Smart Care concept implemented in the MAESTRO programme is the basis of a modular approach to availability contracting that Thales also proposes for other equipment types and other aircraft.

* MAESTRO : MAintien en condition opérationnelle des Equipements B et des moyens de Soutien Thales du Rafale Optimisé (Optimised through-life support for Thales Class B equipment and support systems for Rafale)
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MMRCA, an announcement could be made on next Thursday

Indian financial newspaper, LiveMint is reporting that the 2 bidders, EADS and Dassault, could be called next Thursday by the Indian Ministry of defense, possibly to reveal the winner of the contest.
According to the newspaper, some rumors (yet, not confirmed by the Indian Mod) would rank the Eurofighter as the lowest bidder. If true, the Eurofighter would technically be the winner unless the Indian government eventually decides that strategic concerns impose to select the L2 bidder.