Shipbucket

As the title implies, Dassault has gotten the first export contract for the Rafale which until now has failed to do so in all the various tenders and competitions it has been entered for.
I'm quite disappointed that the EF Typhoon was allegedly discarded on cost grounds. That said I'd imagine that considering that the EF Typhoon has already clocked up a number of export customers outside the initial partner nations which to me highlights either the EF Typhoon is a better aircraft or that the Eurofighter consortium has been much better at flogging their wares than Dassault which seems odd given the success of former Dassault aircraft... It will be interesting to hear/see some more details when they become available on the results. Until then my general expression upon reading the article that confirmed the Rafale won was something along the lines of

Anybody have any points of interest to make?

~Mark.

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AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

Who's buying?

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“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

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Source Materiel is always welcome.

India. MMRCA contract winner was finally announced. Forgot to mention it in the OP.

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AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

Well, I'm sure that there is an alternative universe, in which major weapon systems were bought and sold purely on their merits, but realistically, the actual performance of a peice of kit is not the only factor involved. We know that BAe were very successful at selling aircraft to Saudi Arabia, and investigations into bribery were stopped by our late lamented leader Tony Blair. And Lockheed with the Dutch Royal Family, and Bofors with the Indian army contract, to name but a few that come to mind as being mired in corruption. I'm not suggesting that Dassault tried to grease a few palms to flog the Rafael, but they'd be the exeption if they didn't. That apart the two: Typhoon/Rafael don't seem that dissimilar in overall performance.

Looking closer into it, it won't be official til March-April when the new Fiscal Year starts for the Indian DoD/MoD. That's when the contract will be signed, and you can bet the farm that Eurofighter will contest the selection. And if this goes like previous military contracts, if there's even a speck of 'grease', the whole thing will be shut down and rebidded with the guilty party forbidden to enter.

Though if that happens, I'd place money of India just purchasing a big lot of Tejas IIs & more Flankers.

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95% of my drawings are destined for NS, 4.9% for fun, & .1% serious.
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Well Dassault wasn't happy with the Gripen selection in Switzerland citing that the Gripen was inferior and only won on cost grounds. They have voiced complaints about the majority of failed exports thus far saying that this and that wasn't fair and that they should of won whereas other manufacturers although interested in why they didn't receive the contract seem less bothered by the decision not to go with their system...
@ Typhoon sales. Not just Saudi Arabia. The typhoon has gone also gone to Austria and would have gone to Oman had they not decided to go with the option for more F-16s.

@ Performance, they are going to be like that because France was originally part of the Eurofighter program until they left ergo the design they ended up with was built to the same requirement...

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AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

Seems like a perfectly legit reason to buy something to me.
As I understand it Oman has in fact bought Typhoon as well as F-16s, though the reason is clearly political. (Just Like Saudi Arabia)

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“Close” only counts with horseshoes, hand grenades, and tactical nuclear weapons.
That which does not kill me has made a grave tactical error

Worklist

Source Materiel is always welcome.

Well Thiel, you are not the only one. Grippen is a very good option for country who want a pretty modern multirole fighter with low maintenance and unit costs. Rafaele is just a expensive and complex toy.

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Nobody expects the Imperial Inquisition!

What I meant with the Gripen - Rafale point was how moot it is to complain about things winning on costs when they themselves have done exactly that.

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AU Projects: | Banbha et al. | New England: The Divided States
Blood and Fire

From what I've heard it relates to the way the French have supported the Mirage 2000 buy vs the way the Brits supported the Hawk buy.

It's important to note that the Rafale wouldn't require additional R&D funds for carrier capability, which would be a big plus.

Edit: I've learned that only the first 18 are going to be built in France with the remainder being built in India - that is a huge shift from prior contracts. It really shows that India dictated the terms of the deal.

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