What does the agreement on Rafale fighters between France and the Emirates mean?
The Emirates have agreed to replace the 60 Mirages 2000-9, acquired in 1998, by their French successor: the Rafale. The in-depth study by Giuseppe Gagliano
After thirteen years of discussions, the signing of an 80 Rafale contract between Dassault Aviation and the United Arab Emirates for an amount of 17 billion euros has the effect of the sun at the end of a difficult 2021 for the French defense industry. This is, as Eric Trappier, president of Dassault Aviation points out, the "largest contract ever won by the French fighter air force".
Emmanuel Macron's arrival in Dubai on Friday 3 December, in light of a tour to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, prefigured the signing of a long-standing negotiated contract. Parallel to the visit to the French pavilion of the Universal Exposition, the presence of Eric Trappier and many representatives of the defense industry made a difference. The signing was confirmed by a press release from Dassault Aviation. In the morning Emmanuel Macron met with the Emirati Defense Minister, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyane, thus sealing the latter's decision to replace the 60 Mirages 2000-9, acquired in 1998, by their French successor, the Rafale.
Two weeks earlier, on November 23, the president of Dassault Aviation reiterated his optimism in an interview on Europa 1 , confirming the conclusion of the negotiations begun in 2007, under the impulse of Nicolas Sarkozy. Discussions that have almost never found a favorable result for the French manufacturer in the face of the reluctance of Abu Dhabi. Despite the French President's visit to Abu Dhabi in 2009 for the inauguration of the first French joint military base abroad, the Emirati government considered Dassault's offer to be non-competitive in November 2011, leaving the future for the export of the Rafale pending until negotiations resume in 2013.
The time needed for this agreement testifies to the considerable difficulties encountered by the French apparatus in researching its market. Despite its performance, it has so far only convinced six countries, with a total of 242 aircraft on order. Furthermore, fifteen years separate the commissioning of the device from Egypt's first order in 2015. The information offensive against the contract with India in 2016 illustrates the attempts to prevent the sale of the Rafale and more generally to coerce the producers. French defense to review their ambitions.
Has the Rafale finally become the champion of the French defense industry forever? The United Arab Emirates, which this year celebrates its 50 years of independence, allows French aircraft to take on a new dimension on the market and reinforces the credibility of the manufacturer Dassault, strongly shaken by the choice of many European countries to acquire American aircraft. including Switzerland, Italy and Denmark for a total of 440 aircraft in 2017. An American "competition" that also cost the "contract of the century" between Australia and Naval Group in September 2021, also the victim of a war of influence exercised to the detriment of French interests. While the Minister of the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, welcomes an agreement that "cements a strategic partnership stronger than ever", it is necessary to question the strength of the latter. A year earlier, the UAE government had opted for 50 Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft, demonstrating pragmatism.
Beyond the presumed more than effective relevance of the recent treaty between France and Italy – the relevance of which is the most questionable it can be especially for Italy, given the precedents in the context of the economic war between Italy and France -, the real success of France is precisely this contract signed with the Emirates.
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Here's how France with the Rafale beat the F-35s in the Emirates. Pure Italy dry (due to Di Maio)
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/francia-emirati-arabi-uniti-rafale/ on Mon, 06 Dec 2021 06:39:22 +0000.