A French Air Force Rafale during the 2023 Dubai Air Show, November 13, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Giuseppe CACACE)
Orders for the Rafale were piling up for export but had been waiting in its own country since 2009: France finally announced on Friday that it had placed an order for 42 additional copies of the combat aircraft for the needs of its army. Air.
Representing an “investment of more than 5 billion euros” according to the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, this order was planned for a long time and included in the 2023 budget.
Apart from a contract at the start of 2021 for 12 Rafales intended to replace those sold second-hand to Greece, this is the first French order since 2009 intended to increase the Air Force fleet with this combat aircraft. last generation.
It brings to 234 the number of these planes, produced by Dassault Aviation, ordered by Paris since the start of the program.
With the 12 aircraft which were to be delivered to the Air Force last year, France currently has a fleet of 165 aircraft, including 41 for the Navy version embarked on aircraft carriers.
A French Air Force Rafale during the 2023 Dubai Air Show, November 13, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Giuseppe CACACE)
“First major order financed by the LPM (military programming law passed at the end of last year, editor’s note), it illustrates French industrial excellence and contributes to more than 7,000 jobs in more than 400 companies in France,” said congratulated Sébastien Lecornu on X.
Deliveries must take place between 2027 and 2032. Until then, Paris must still take delivery of 27 devices ordered in the past.
– “Industrial sovereignty” –
In detail, the contract announced on Friday concerns the order of 30 aircraft for “tranche 5” of equipment for the French army with Rafale, as well as 12 aircraft intended to replace the Rafale of the Air Force sold used in 2021 in Croatia.
Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, during the presentation of the results for the year 2022, March 9, 2023 in Saint-Cloud in Hauts-de-Seine (AFP/Archives/Thomas SAMSON)
The Rafale is a so-called multirole combat aircraft, capable of carrying out air defense, reconnaissance or bombing missions. It is also the vector of French nuclear deterrence.
It has been used by the French Navy since 2004 and the Air Force since 2006 and has replaced seven types of combat aircraft from previous generations.
The Rafales of “tranche 5” will be delivered to the F4 standard, specifies Dassault Aviation in a press release.
The development of this modernization was launched in 2018 in order to follow technological developments. The F4 standard notably includes the capacity to launch new generation Mica NG air-to-air missiles, new electronic countermeasures systems and the first technological bricks allowing the Rafale to be integrated into a collaborative combat bubble with other equipment. . An F5 standard will succeed it after 2030.
For Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, the Rafale is an instrument of “sovereignty” for France.
“This military industrial sovereignty constitutes an exception in Europe. It ensures the superiority of our combat aviation. It is also an asset of diplomatic influence and economic power with export,” he believes, quoted in a press release.
To ensure its viability, Dassault Aviation and the entire French defense industrial sector must rely on exports.
And after many years without succeeding in making a breakthrough, the plane has enjoyed notable success abroad where 285 units have been sold to seven countries since 2015: to Qatar (36 units), to India (36), to Egypt (55), Greece (24, including 12 used), the Emirates (80), Indonesia (42) and Croatia (12 used devices).
A Rafale at the Fetesti air base in Borcea in Romania, October 19, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Daniel MIHAILESCU)
New Delhi also announced in July its intention to purchase 26 additional Rafales for the needs of its navy.
Built in collaboration by Dassault Aviation, which oversees 60% of the value of the plane, the electronics manufacturer Thales (22%) and the engine manufacturer Safran (18%) which supplies the M-88 engine, the Rafale is intended to be the French combat aircraft beyond 2040, when it will be gradually replaced by the Scaf (Future Air Combat System), developed with Germany and Spain.
© 2024 AFP
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