By PIERRE TRAN
PARIS — France has a good chance of winning export sales for the Dassault Rafale fighter, which is needed to balance the defense budget books, French air chief Gen. Denis Mercier said on Dec. 11.
“I am fairly confident there will be a good story,” he told the defense journalists association, when asked about the export prospects for the twin-engine fighter. “This is a high-quality plane.”
The French government has written an assumed sale of the Rafale to foreign clients into the multiyear budget. The deals are needed to maintain annual production of 11 aircraft from the line near Bordeaux, southwest France.
India and France have agreed to speed up negotiations for a US $12 billion order for 126 Rafales for the south Asian nation, with plans to seal the deal by March 31.
A delegation of senior Egyptian Air Force and Navy officers landed here on Dec. 10 to negotiate buying 23 to 26 Rafales, worth €3.6 billion (US $4.4 billion), and two DCNS multimission frigates, worth €1.8 billion, La Tribune reported.
Qatar is in advanced talks for the Rafale, the business website reported.
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