Will the UAE really cripple the F-35s?
United Arab Emirates: the purchase of 80 Rafale does not preclude the F-35 on the contrary it is complementary. Giacomo Cavanna's article for Ares Difesa
The purchase of 80 French Rafale fighters seemed to have definitively closed the ongoing negotiations between Abu Dhabi and Washington to conclude the purchase of 50 F-35s for around 23 billion dollars.
Major General Al Alawi, UAEAF Chief of Staff, told Emirates News Agency: “The contract signed with France does not replace the ongoing discussions on the US F-35. It is quite complementary to our air force capabilities as we continue to develop our air defense systems and seek out new products and advanced technologies. as part of our overall national security strategy. "
The new Dassault Rafale F4s will therefore replace the Mirage 2000s currently in service but will not be the only purchase for the United Arab Emirates.
The F-35s should therefore replace the fleet of F-16s currently in use also because “legacy” aircraft in a complex scenario such as that of the Middle East could suffer heavy losses in the event of a conflict.
Many countries in the area own or are in bargaining with other nations to acquire advanced air defense systems against which "traditional" aircraft have limited capacity for action.
The F-35, in addition to having advanced stealth capabilities, has a very advanced electronic warfare and data acquisition system, so much so that it is practically equivalent to a dedicated SIGINT / ELINT aircraft.
Overall, it should be noted that the United States is not putting too much pressure on the sale of the F-35s as the authorization for the sale through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) of the 50 F-35s and related equipment for $ 23 billion has yet to pass by Congress.
Several members of Congress have expressed more than a few perplexities towards the sale for different reasons: some for the violations of human rights by the United Arab Emirates and others for the too close "proximity" with Russia.
Article published on aresdifesa.it
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/gli-emirati-arabi-uniti-azzopperanno-davvero-gli-f-35/ on Sat, 18 Dec 2021 13:40:01 +0000.