fter being called in to the defence ministry to explain the little matter of how its Rafale fighter was invoiced to cost €1.5bn more than the quote for 2004 and 2005, Dassault was confident of getting signatures for 59 aircraft, for the French airforce and navy.
The latest order is expected to cost the taxpayer some €3bn with the money going to Dassault, the engine maker Snecma and Thalès for the electronics. Overall the Rafale programme is set to cost the French government €33bn over 30 years.
Next year Dassault and EADS, which has only just started deliveries of its much delayed and increasingly criticised Eurofighter to the Royal Air Force, are likely to be fighting each other and the US firm Lockheed for an order from the Singapore airforce.
PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - France has reached agreement with combat and corporate jet maker Dassault Aviation over the purchase of 59 Rafale planes, Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Wednesday. The contract, estimated to be worth about 3 billion euros, should be signed in the coming weeks, she said.
"Negotiations for the order of 59 Rafale jets have been completed," the minister said during the presentation of her ministry's 2005 budget.
"That means the order should be made very soon," she added, saying that it should be signed before the end of the year.
Around half of the 3 billion euros involved would go to Dassault Aviation , with some 600 million going to aeronautic engine-maker Snecma and 500 million to Thales , which supplies the jet's radar and other electronic equipment, said defence ministry spokesman responsible for arms, Francois Lureau.
Delivery and payment are expected to take place between 2008 and 2012.
A source close to the defence ministry also said France could make eight of the 59 Rafales available to Singapore if the Asian country opted for the combat jet, repeating a story reported in Wednesday's La Tribune newspaper.
That would be Dassault Aviation's first export order for the Rafale, which is competing for Singapore's business with Boeing's F-15, and Eurofighter developed by European aerospace firm EADS , Britain's BAE Systems and Italy's Finmeccanica .
The 59 new jets, which will be made to the latest F3 standard, bring the number of aircraft France's defence ministry has under order to 120.
A key point in the negotiations between the companies and the state was the sharing of the cost of updating the equipment used to make the jets between the two sides. The F3 requires more modern equipment than that used to make earlier versions of the aircraft.
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MilAd : Name of a champion of Iran; birth; Christmas; A character in Shahnameh ___________________________________________ Bless you all with Iranian Pride, May Green, White, and Red, also Faravahar be with you, Long live Perisan, Long live Iran, More power to all,
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RAFALE MULTI-ROLE COMBAT FIGHTER, FRANCE Rafale is a twin-jet combat aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of short- and long-range missions, including ground and sea attack, air defence and air superiority, reconnaissance, and high-accuracy strike or nuclear strike deterrence.
The aircraft has been developed for the French Air Force and Navy. 61 have been ordered (36 for the Air Force and 25 for the Navy) out of a total requirement of around 300 (234 for the Air Force and 60 for the Navy). The Rafale is produced in three variants, M, B and C. The Rafale M variant is a single seater carrier-based version for the Navy; B and C are a two seater and a single seater for the Air Force. The Rafale M entered service in 2001 and ten have been delivered. Seven aircraft are operational on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier. Rafale B and C will enter service in 2004. A two-seater Rafale N version is being developed for the Navy for delivery in 2008.
Rafale fighters delivered to the Navy so far are F1 standard with air-to-air capability. F2 standard with air-to-ground missiles will begin an initial testing phase at Mont-de-Marsan military flight test center from September 2004. A contract to develop the fully capable F3 standard aircraft with terrain-following 3D radar and capability to launch ASMP-A nuclear missiles and AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles was signed in February 2004. The Rafale F3 will be delivered from 2007 and the first squadron of 20 aircraft will be in service in 2008.
COCKPIT The cockpit has hands-on throttle and stick control (HOTAS). The cockpit is equipped with a head-up, wide-angle holographic display from Thales Avionique, which provides aircraft control data, mission data and firing cues. A collimated, multi-image head-level display presents tactical situation and sensor data, and two touch-screen lateral displays show the aircraft system parameters and mission data. The pilot also has a helmet-mounted sight and display. A CCD camera and on-board recorder records the image of the head-up display throughout the mission.
WEAPONS The Rafale can carry payloads of over nine tons on 14 hardpoints for the Air Force version, and 13 for the naval version. The range of weapons includes Mica, Magic, Sidewinder, ASRAAM and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles; Apache, AS30L, ALARM, HARM, Maverick and PGM100 air-to-ground missiles; and Exocet/AM39, Penguin 3 and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. For a strategic mission, the Rafale can deliver the MBDA (formerly Aerospatiale) ASMP stand-off nuclear missile. Main weapons are expected to be the MBDA (formerly Matra BAe Dynamics) MICA air-to-air missile, MBDA Storm Shadow/Scalp EG stand-off cruise missile and the MBDA (Aerospatiale) AS 30 laser-guided missile.
The Rafale has a twin-gun pod and a GIAT 30mm DEFA 791B cannon which can fire 2,500 rounds per minute.
The Rafale is equipped with laser designation pods for laser guidance of air-to-ground missiles.
COUNTERMEASURES The Rafale's electronic warfare system is the Spectra from Thales. Spectra incorporates solid state transmitter technology, radar warner, DAL laser warning receiver, missile warning, detection systems and jammers.
SENSORS The Rafale is equipped with an RBE2 radar, developed by Thales, which has look-down and shoot-down capability. The radar can track up to eight targets simultaneously and provides threat identification and prioritisation.
The optronic systems include the Thales/SAGEM OSF infrared search and track system, installed in the nose of the aircraft. The optronic suite carries out search, target identification, telemetry and automatic target discrimination and tracking.
NAVIGATION AND COMMUNICATIONS The communications suite on the Rafale uses the Saturn onboard V/UHF radio, which is a second-generation, anti-jam tactical UHF radio for NATO. Saturn provides voice encryption in fast-frequency hopping mode. The aircraft is also equipped with fixed-frequency VHF/UHF radio for communications with civil air traffic control. A multifunction information distribution system (MIDS) terminal provides secure, high-data-rate tactical data exchange with NATO C2 stations, AWACS aircraft or naval ships.
Rafale is equipped with a Thales TLS 2000 navigation receiver, which is used for the approach phase of flight. The TLS 2000 integrates the instrument landing system (ILS), microwave landing system (MLS) and VHF Omni-directional Radio-ranger (VOR) and marker functions.
The radar altimeter is the AHV 17 altimeter from Thales, which is suitable for very low flight. The Rafale has a TACAN tactical air navigation receiver for en route navigation and as a landing aid.
The Rafale has an SB25A combined interrogator-transponder developed by Thales. The SB25A is the first IFF using electronic scanning technology.
ENGINE The Rafale is powered by two M88-2 engines from SNECMA, each providing a thrust of 75kN. The aircraft is equipped for buddy-buddy refuelling with a flight refuelling hose reel and drogue pack.
MilAd : Name of a champion of Iran; birth; Christmas; A character in Shahnameh
___________________________________________
Bless you all with Iranian Pride,
May Green, White, and Red, also Faravahar be with you,
Long live Perisan,
Long live Iran,
More power to all,
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MilAd : Name of a champion of Iran; birth; Christmas; A character in Shahnameh
___________________________________________
Bless you all with Iranian Pride,
May Green, White, and Red, also Faravahar be with you,
Long live Perisan,
Long live Iran,
More power to all,
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MilAd : Name of a champion of Iran; birth; Christmas; A character in Shahnameh ___________________________________________ Bless you all with Iranian Pride, May Green, White, and Red, also Faravahar be with you, Long live Perisan, Long live Iran, More power to all,
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Thales welcomes order for 59 Rafale combat aircraft
The Rafale programme represents contracts worth 1 billion euros for Thales in 2004
As a major partner of the Rafale programme, Thales welcomes the order for 59 Rafale F3 standard combat aircraft awarded by the French defence ministry. This new contract confirms the programme as a key component of France's defence capability for the coming decades.
This latest order takes the total number of Rafale combat aircraft ordered by France to 120 and follows the first two batches already ordered: 13 aircraft in 1994 and 48 in 1999. Thales has been involved in all three orders and has already equipped the French Navy's Rafale F1 standard aircraft, which entered operational service last June, and the Rafale F2 standard aircraft for the French Air Force and Navy.
Thales is supplying the electronic equipment that constitutes the Rafale's navigation and attack system, including the RBE2 electronic scanning radar, the Spectra electronic warfare system, IFF identification equipment, mission and data-storage computer, displays, communication equipment, backup instruments and electric power generation systems.
Denis Ranque, Chairman and CEO of the Thales Group, commented: "This programme is of great importance for Thales and we are proud to contribute to the operational excellence of the Rafale by supplying our electronic systems."
For Thales, this contract adds to the three contracts already won since early 2004:
Development of the Rafale F3 standard, which gives the aircraft the capabilities that make it the first multi-mission combat aircraft of its generation. This new contract gives the Rafale complementary operational capabilities, including deployment and fire control of ASMP-A medium-range air-to-ground missiles and AM39 anti-ship missiles, as well as accommodating the RECO NG optronics pod and high-resolution air-to-ground mapping with the RBE2 radar.
Development of a second demonstrator for the RBE2 combat radar with active antenna. The Rafale is the only European multi-role combat aircraft with this capability.
Through-life support of all equipment supplied by the Thales Group for a duration of seven years. This equipment will be used on the first 120 Rafale combat aircraft.
The four contracts awarded to Thales since early 2004 total 1 billion euros.
About Thales
Thales is an international electronics and systems group serving defence, aerospace, security and services markets. The Group employs 61,500 people worldwide and generated revenues of 10.6 billion euros in 2003.
Rafale Marinje standard F-1.
Rafale D Standard F-2.
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