By Benjamin David Baker
Dassault faces tough competition in the region.
As previously reported by The Diplomat, several Asian states are on a military shopping spree. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and China are buying new fighters; Australia and Pakistan are getting new submarines. In contrast to the Cold War, when military purchases were primarily dictated by political affiliation with either Washington or Moscow (or, more rarely, London, Beijing, or Paris), the Asian arms market today involves dealers from all over the world.
French company Dassault is one of the players trying to expand its operations in the region. Known for its series of popular fighters, the Mirage, Dassault has previously delivered hardware to such diverse states as Israel, Argentina and Taiwan. These fighters proved popular, both due to their reliability and costs, as well as the fact that they represented an alternative to U.S. and Soviet models.
Dassault’s latest fighter, the Rafale, is a good platform. The fighter is a twin-engine, fourth generation multirole fighter, which means that it is supposed to be able to conduct a wide range of missions, including air-to-air combat, air-to-ground and air-to-sea strikes, and long-range reconnaissance. Furthermore, it is nuclear-capable, and constitutes a part of France’s “force de dissuasion”–its sea and air-based nuclear deterrence. In service since 2001, the Rafale serves as France’s main fighter, alongside the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault’s other modern fighter, the Mirage 2000. The Rafale has previously seen service in Libya, Mali, and Afghanistan and is currently involved in the French operation in Syria. The aircraft has been exported to Egypt and Qatar, which have each ordered 24 Rafales. (For technical specifications on the Rafale, see here and here.)
However, Rafale’s largest export market is India. Originally hailed as the “Mother of all Defense Deals,” India was set to purchase 126 Rafales back in 2012. However, as reported by Ankit Panda and Franz-Stefan Gady for The Diplomat, this deal has hit many roadblocks due to disagreements over price, offsets, and Indian specification demands their Rafales. The purchase has now been scaled down to 36 fighters in a government-to-government, of which the final details on offsets and technology transfers are still under negotiation.
Read the full story at The Diplomat