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Paris (UPI) May 5, 2010 Negotiations between France and the United Arab Emirates on Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter jet are taking longer than expected but Paris hopes to strike an agreement by the end of this year. A French official familiar with the negotiations told Defensenews.com that an agreement struck this year would mean that next-generation Rafale jets could be delivered by 2014. This so-called F4 standard of the multirole Rafale would be a true "fifth-generation" aircraft, the official told Defensenews.com. The United Arab Emirates is mulling the purchase of 14-28 planes, experts say. The F3 standard Rafale is in service with the with the French military only; Islamist lawmakers in Kuwait have spoken against buying the Rafale, a fourth-generation fighter, arguing other models are more advanced. Kuwait's Defense Ministry recently said the Rafale would be tested next month in the desert emirate before a final decision is made. French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Kuwait last year -- the first trip there by a French head of state since 1991 -- to lobby for Dassault. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dassault sold many of its Mirage jets but the relatively expensive Rafale hasn't been able to convince buyers. Morocco, usually a reliable customer for France, chose Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter instead. The United Arab Emirates armed forces are flying Mirage 2000-9 jets and France is mulling to buy them back to sweeten the deal, Defensenews.com reports. United Arab Emirates officials are also looking to upgrade the new aircraft with more advanced radar and electronic warfare systems as well as a beefed-up engine. Dassault develops and assembles the Rafales, with Thales supplying the electronics and Snecma the M88 engine. Recent air plane deals in the Gulf favored the Eurofighter Typhoon, built by a consortium Including Britain's BAE Systems, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co and Finmeccanica of Italy. Saudi Arabia bought 72 Typhoon planes in September 2007 in an $8.8 billion deal, and Oman is reported to be planning to buy up to 24 Typhoon jets worth an more than $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, France is trying to sell the Rafale to Brazil, which wants to buy 36 new warplanes for at least $4 billion. Sarkozy said he was confident that the French plane would make the cut ahead of the two other finalists, Sweden's Gripen Next Generation fighter jet, built by Saab and Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet. The deal could eventually rise to 100 planes, officials have said.
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Pentagon still aims for tanker decision by autumnWashington (AFP) May 4, 2010 The Pentagon said Tuesday it aims to stick to plans to award a contract for a new US aerial refueling tanker by "this fall," telling aerospace rivals to be ready to start work by November 12. "The award date has not in any way slipped. We still hope to be able to do so this fall, we are still planning to do so this fall, we still expect to do so this fall," press secretary Geoff Morrell told ... read more |
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