Dassault Aviation is hopeful to sell 57 Rafale Marine to India
Posted in Air Force , Industry by Laurent Lagneau On 08-03-2017
The choice of the Rafale in Belgium and Finland seems uncertain, as the Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II and the Boeing F / A-18 Super Hornet are favorites to modernize the combat aircraft of these two countries.
For the Belgian case, it might be possible to pool the maintenance in operational condition with the Netherlands, which have already ordered 37 F-35As. As for Finland, whose air force already has the F / A-18 Hornet, holding Boeing makes sense, although the Super Hornet is very different from its elder. Thus, Canada made this choice by presenting the case as a "temporary" solution to avoid a capacity deficit.
Also, Éric Trappier, the CEO of Dassault Aviation, does not seem to have too many illusions. As he repeated at the press conference given on March 8 to present the results of his group, in defense, there is an "American preference" in Europe.
However, if the Rafale does not sell on the Old Continent, it seduces elsewhere. Especially in the Middle East and Asia. It is in these regions that Dassault Aviation's airplane has the best chance of winning.
After signing a first contract, in September 2016, for the delivery of 36 Rafale, India could place a new order. In January, an official of the Indian Ministry of Defense told Aviation International News (AIN) that New Delhi was considering acquiring 36 additional aircraft.
This was confirmed by Dassault Aviation on March 8, referring to "discussions on a new section of Rafale", which would this time be built in India. Already, last February, the French industrialist
created a joint venture with the Indian group Reliance in order to "pilot the offset [industrial compensation, ed]" related to the first Rafale contract.
In addition, Trappier also confirmed that Dassault Aviation would propose the Rafale M to the Indian Navy, which launched a request for information in January to acquire 57 fighter ships embarked in its program " Multi Role Carrier Borne Fighters "(MRCBF).
One of the requirements expressed by the Indian Navy is that its future on-board fighter will have to be able to be deployed from aircraft carriers in STOBAR (Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) and CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery). However, this is not a problem for Mr. Trappier, for whom Rafale M has a "good chance" of winning.
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Vincent Lamigeon
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#Rafale peut être embarqué sur le porte-avions indien actuel (ex-russe). "Plus efficace que les MiG-29" assure Eric Trappier
09:54 - 8 Mars 2017
09:54 - 8 Mars 2017
Indeed, this aircraft, which until now has only operated on buildings in CATOBAR configuration, "can be embarked on the current Indian aircraft carrier", ie INS Vikramaditya, India by Russia. In addition, he argued that it is "more effective " than the MiG-29K, "which is far from satisfying the Indian Navy.
For the MRCBF program, four aircraft would be in the running. In addition to the Rafale M, a naval version of the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen E / F aircraft, which has yet to be developed, is to be developed, the F / A-18 Super Hornet. STOBAR aircraft carriers, and the MiG-29K.
Mr. Trappier still believes in the chances of Rafale in the United Arab Emirates (but the record is now dragging for nearly 9 years) and Malaysia, which has expressed the need for 18 new combat aircraft.
In an interview given to West France in September 2016, Mr. Trappier said he believed more in a Rafale contract in Malaysia than in Canada, where Dassault Aviation wanted to be "very proactive" The Royal Canadian Air Force (CF-18) replacement file.
However, Éric Trappier spoke of "complementary questions" coming from new prospects, particularly in Asia. And this, thanks to the "stability" of the Rafale compared to its competitors. "At the same time that there may be difficulties encountered by American planes or by our American competitors, it is clear that the Rafale (...) continues its life," he said.
http://www.opex360.com/2017/03/08/dassault-aviation-bon-espoir-de-vendre-57-rafale-marine-linde/
Here comes more confirmation that we are buying 250-300 Rafales for both IAF & IN. Also IN will have around 200 fighters of different types to take on coastal security and IAF will focus only on Land based threats. I was first to break this on this forum and people were mocking. Also 2 more clients under India's influence are buying Rafales Malaysia & UAE which will also be confirmed with 6-9 months. All these fighters will be coming out from Nagpur plant. Now R&D per plane will go down substantially bringing down cost of Rafales further plus India will have cheaper labor to bring down further for Indian Rafales which will cost around RS 475-525 crores per plane, just around Rs 100 crores more than SU 30 MKI which would also be recovered by lower Flying hour cost.