Dassault Rafale - Updates and Discussion

[Domobran7]

Croatia Signs Rafale Purchase – History and War (wordpress.com)

Two F3R Rafales flew over Zagreb after Croatian government had signed the purchase of new fighter jets for Croatian Air Force. This happened after Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and French President Emmanuel Macron had signed new Strategic Partnership Agreement and oversaw signing of the sale agreement for a Rafale squadron, which was signed by Ministers for Defense, Mario Banožić and Florence Parly.

Croatia is buying twelve used Dassault Rafale F3R fighter jets, of which 10 single-seaters and 2 two-seaters. Price will be 1,2 billion Euros, to be paid in five installments from 2022. to 2026. This is some 15 per cent more than what was originally reported. In May 2021., when decision had been made, stated cost was 999 million Euros. The price of Rafale purchase did not in fact increase, as the differential of 200 million Euros is Value Added Tax which is paid into the budget of Republic of Croatia.

Along with 12 aircraft, Croatia will also receive a modern flight simulator, ground and test equipment, spare parts and support contract with Dassault Aviation. Also included are basic air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons packages, as well as training of flight and ground crews. Training of ground personnel will start in late 2022., while that of pilots will begin in early 2023. Contract includes training of personnel, military cooperation and joint exercises of French Air Force (AdlA) and Croatian Air Force (HRZ). Transfer of ownership will be carried out in France, upon which Croatian pilots will fly Rafales to Croatia. Eight Rafales will arrive to Croatia in late 2024., while remaining four will arrive in early 2025.

 

[RISING SUN]

Rafale Contract for Egypt comes into force​

(Saint-Cloud, France, November 15, 2021) – The contract for the acquisition by Egypt of 30 additional Rafales to equip its air force came into force.


Announced on 4 May, this contract completes the first acquisition of 24 Rafales, signed in 2015, and will bring to 54 the number of Rafales operated by the Egyptian Air Force, the second in the world, after the French Air Force, to operate such a fleet of Rafales.


It sets a new milestone in the strategic partnership between Egypt and France, and strengthens the historical ties forged with Dassault Aviation for nearly fifty years. It also demonstrates the satisfaction of the Egyptian authorities with the smooth execution of the first contract. Finally, it confirms the technological and operational excellence of the Rafale and its export success.


“In a demanding geopolitical context, Egypt has chosen the Rafale to ensure its role as a key player in the regional and international arena, in full sovereignty. This is an honour for Dassault Aviation and its partners, who are fully committed to meeting the expectations of the Egyptian authorities,” said Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation.

Rafale Contract for Egypt comes into force - Press kits

The contract for the acquisition by Egypt of 30 additional Rafales to equip its air force came into force. © Dassault Aviation - A. Pecchi

www.dassault-aviation.com

 

[Bon Plan]

The #UAE will buy at least 80 Dassault Rafale fighter jets from #France

https://twitter.com/x/status/1466694275983364103

 

[Ashwin]

Congrats

 

[Amarante]

(vid with english subtitles)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1466696434410037253

 

[Bon Plan]

 

[vstol Jockey]

View attachment 21986

You must thank India for the hype we created for this aircraft. I do not doubt the product. It is the finest. We did the same for M2K as well. If you may recall.

 

[A Person]

Egypt was the first customer of both the Mirage 2000 and the Rafale.

But yes, India has been the source of a lot of very enthusiastic positive coverage for our beautiful birds. Though that was marred by a lot of not-so-positive coverage thanks to Rahul's attempt at turning it into a new Bofors scandal. And India is the only customer who has not yet made a repeat order after receiving the jet -- Egypt, Qatar, and Greece all have ordered more, with Egypt even promising to order even more later.

 

[randomradio]

Pretty good order book for Dassault.

With 242 Rafales signed for export, it's surpassed French numbers. It's quickly approaching the M2000's export numbers.

 

[zinswinsin]

The Gripen winning would be hilarious honestly.

 

[randomradio]

The Gripen winning would be hilarious honestly.

In Finland? Unlikely. The tender is now looking at tech specs. The F-35 is better than the Gripen in many technical aspects. Saab themselves have advertised the Gripen to be 80% as good as the F-35 in BVR combat with the Meteor vs the AMRAAM, which still makes the F-35 the better jet.

Gripen's chances in Canada are insanely high though, considering Trudeau's initial position on the F-35 when he was elected in 2015, and the fact that the current stage in the tender looks at price instead of tech specs.

 

[A Person]

Gripen's chances in Canada are insanely high though, considering Trudeau's initial position on the F-35 when he was elected in 2015, and the fact that the current stage in the tender looks at price instead of tech specs.

Canada never stopped being an F-35 program partner. They're already paying for the development of the Lightning The Second. The whole tender is just a waste of everyone's time, a way to wait until the bad press of the F-35 gets forgotten.

And Canada never looks at price for their procurement decisions. If they did, they'd have gone with the FREMM proposal for their surface combatant program.

 

[Sathya]

So the only choice left for india is Make in India.
Next tranche of 36 is no more.
114 is the number we are looking at..

 

[Lolwa]

So the only choice left for india is Make in India.
Next tranche of 36 is no more.
114 is the number we are looking at..

The 36 tranche order only happens if MMRCA 2 winner is Gripen/Super-hornet/typhoon/f-15EX.
Otherwise rafale

 

[_Anonymous_]

So the only choice left for india is Make in India.
Next tranche of 36 is no more.
114 is the number we are looking at..

If the GoI has spent more than a billion USD to create infrastructure at 2 AFB to house 4 squadrons then you can bet that we will be going in for at least 2 more squadrons thru the same GtG route as before.

I just read that the deliveries for the order of 80 F4.0 Rafales that the UAE has placed on Dassault will commence from 2027 . Any reason why it'd take more than 5 yrs to commence deliveries ? @Picdelamirand-oil

Meanwhile there seems to be major disagreements brewing between the CDS & MoD / GoI on one side & the IAF on other on the issue of the road map for the procurement of the MRFA which in turn has led to the IAF not publically affirming its support to the Tejas Mk-2 program nor refer to it in public while listing their forthcoming procurements .

Apparently the former prefers procurement of Rafales in an incremental manner like how we did the MKI whereas the latter wants to expedite the entire process in one shot thru the tendering route.

There seems to be a major trust deficit between the 2 parties where the IAF fears that the total procurement of the Rafales would be capped at 72 +/- a squadron in case they went thru the incremental route forgoing the tender while the GoI would then shove more Mk-2s down their throat to compensate for the lack of numbers in making up the falling squadron strength & deficit of Rafales / TE MRFA

 

[GASOLINE_ON_FIRE]

You must thank India for the hype we created for this aircraft. I do not doubt the product. It is the finest. We did the same for M2K as well. If you may recall.

Absolute Cringe. Saw this this type of behaviour from some egyptian twitter users as well some time ago. I think its a hilarious coping mechanism to see someone else succeed. Everyone thinks that they are the center of the world.

Meanwhile there seems to be major disagreements brewing between the CDS & MoD / GoI on one side & the IAF on other on the issue of the road map for the procurement of the MRFA which in turn has led to the IAF not publically affirming its support to the Tejas Mk-2 program nor refer to it in public while listing their forthcoming procurements .

Apparently the former prefers procurement of Rafales in an incremental manner like how we did the MKI whereas the latter wants to expedite the entire process in one shot thru the tendering route.

There seems to be a major trust deficit between the 2 parties where the IAF fears that the total procurement of the Rafales would be capped at 72 +/- a squadron in case they went thru the incremental route forgoing the tender while the GoI would then shove more Mk-2s down their throat to compensate for the lack of numbers in making up the falling squadron strength & deficit of Rafales / TE MRFA

There is so much speculation around this. IAF chief will want the absolute best for his organisation. Its expected. Its govts job to bring these high flying people back to earth. No govt. in its right mind will allow 25 billion dollar worth of imports of a single type of aircraft. Not to mention IAF will fly half of these into the ground within the next decade and the remaining ones will need upgrades worth in billions again. This chief will be gone in 2 years. MK2 will be flying by then. Meanwhile, as we know ASQRs haven't been laid down yet so we can reasonably expect the whole process to last more than 10 years. 2 govts would have come and gone by then. No one can predict the future but MRFA, by the looks of it will go into the dustbin.

 

[_Anonymous_]

Meanwhile, as we know ASQRs haven't been laid down yet so we can reasonably expect the whole process to last more than 10 years. 2 govts would have come and gone by then. No one can predict the future but MRFA, by the looks of it will go into the dustbin.

CDR for the Mk-2 has been completed . Metal cutting began in February this year & orders for long lead items placed / will be placed this month. It'd begin taxi trials by 2023 & you're talking about ASQR here. At least update yourself on the latest information.

 

[GASOLINE_ON_FIRE]

CDR for the Mk-2 has been completed . Metal cutting began in February this year & orders for long lead items placed / will be placed this month. It'd begin taxi trials by 2023 & you're talking about ASQR here. At least update yourself on the latest information.

MK2 will be flying by then.

This was about LCA mk2

Meanwhile, as we know ASQRs haven't been laid down yet so we can reasonably expect the whole process to last more than 10 years.

This was about MRFA tender.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1467043819564658692

Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, IAF: "We expect the Multi Role Fighter Aircraft MFRA plan to be firmed up to build ops capability & plan to induct 6 MRFA squadrons in a phased manner. Finalisation of ASQRs is under progress; then the proposal will move to Acceptance of Necessity"

 

[AbRaj]

So the only choice left for india is Make in India.
Next tranche of 36 is no more.
114 is the number we are looking at..

Effectively Rafales are not available anymore till 2025-26.

 

[Picdelamirand-oil]

I just read that the deliveries for the order of 80 F4.0 Rafales that the UAE has placed on Dassault will commence from 2027 . Any reason why it'd take more than 5 yrs to commence deliveries ? @Picdelamirand-oil

In France, according to the articles, the start of deliveries will be in 2026 or 2027. This means that production will start in 2023 or 2024.
A normal start would be in 2022 because we are at the end of 2021 and there is still the down payment to be made for the contract to come into force (€2.25 billion anyway).
I think that a second assembly line is also needed, which would explain a year's delay, and finally there are probably specific developments for the UAE.