By: Pierre Tran
PARIS — The French Air Force plays a key role in the export drive for the Dassault Aviation Rafale, but its sales support places a burden on the time it takes to train pilots on the fighter jet, the air chief of Staff told the French Senate Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee.
“The more hunger there is for support for export, the more that reduces training for our crews,” André Lanata said, according to a Senate parliamentary record from Oct. 12 only recently made public. There is also a high operational combat rate, which puts pressure on time for training pilots and personnel on the full spectrum of skills.
“All the challenge is there,” he said.
Combat missions over Syria and Iraq have boosted fighter pilots’ flying hours to 168 hours this year, higher than 159 hours in the military budget law, he said. Pilots are expected to fly 164 hours next year.
On top of that higher-than-expected operational rate, there are “significant requests for support for our export markets for the Rafale,” he said. “We have to congratulate this export success: this is good news for our industry, the air force, the military budget law and for France.”
“The service we bring mainly consists of training,” he said. The service has “unique and sought after operational expertise,” which is the clients’ main interest, he said. “This is one of the reasons for the export success,” he added. Other factors include pilots flying the twin-engined fighter to air shows and in military exercises, loan of equipment, assigning kit, and personnel to help develop the plane to standards requested by the clients.
All that is not neutral and comes on top of a demanding situation, he said. The Air Force delivering support helped the defense industry and strengthened long-term strategic partnerships between the air force, France and the acquiring nation. There's a need to pay close attention to staff levels, he added; the service essentially received payment for its support.
