Page 6 - ADT MARCH 2021 Online Magazine
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which has ordered a total of 192 Rafales. Egypt
                                                                       has signed up for 54 aircraft, while Qatar and
                                                                       India have placed orders for 36 aircraft each.
                                                                       Greece and Croatia have ordered 18 and 12
                                                                       aircraft respectively, with the former being
                                                                       the first European country to buy the Rafale
                                                                       (apart from France). The UAE and Indonesia   [ COVER  STORY ]
                                                                       have ordered 80 and 42 aircraft respectively.

                                                                       In addition to the UAE, Qatar is another Middle
                                                                       Eastern customer for Rafale and ordered the
                                                                       multi-role fighter type in two tranches in May
                                                                       2015 (24 aircraft) and December 2017 (12 air-
                                                                       craft) respectively. Dassault is also modernizing
                                                                       Qatar’s fleet of Mirage 2000-9 aircraft and work
                                                                       began three years ago. Egypt has also finalised
                                                                       its acquisition of 30 additional Rafales to add
        the Rafale F4, late last year, when it placed an order for 80 aircraft   to its initial purchase of 24 Rafales, signed in
        to be operated by the UAE Air Force & Air Defence (UAE AF & AD).   2015. The Egyptian Air Force will become the
        The Rafales and their equipment were ordered via commercial    third largest Rafale operator after the French
        contracts between the UAE and GIE Rafale (Dassault Aviation,   and Qatari air forces. Egypt is also the first
        Safran and Thales) and MBDA.                                   export customer for Rafale, just as it was for
                                                                       the Mirage 2000.
        The UAE contract for 80 aircraft is the largest ever deal for the
        French combat aeronautics industry which has an  ecosystem of
        400 companies dependent on the Rafale. The continued flow of   Croatia’s contract for 12 Rafale fighters and
        orders for Rafale represents thousands of guaranteed jobs for   associated logistics support was finalised in
        the programme till the end of the decade. The UAE also ordered   November 2021. The Croatian Air Force will
        twelve H225M Caracal helicopters from Airbus Helicopters, which   receive 12 ex-French air force Rafales, with
        will be will be entirely produced and assembled in France, at Airbus   Dassault providing training and logistics sup-
        Helicopters’ industrial site in Marignane. The UAE’s order for 12   port including additional spare parts for these
        H225Ms adds to a French order for eight helicopters placed in   aircraft, over a three-year period. Croatia will
        April 2020 and will consolidate the H225M Caracal production and   be a first-time user of a Dassault manufac-
        assembly line of the Marignane site and all its suppliers, helping   tured aircraft unlike other Rafale customers,
        sustain hundreds of jobs.                                      who have earlier operated Dassault types such
                                                                       as the Mirage III/IV, F1, 2000 and Alpha Jet.
                                                                       Greece is the only other European customer
        Export Contender                                               for the Rafale ordering 18 of the type, split into
        Dassault Aviation has now found export customers for the Rafale in     six new aircraft and 12 ex-French Air Force
        Egypt, India, Qatar, Greece, UAE, Indonesia and Croatia. The UAE’s   examples. The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) order
        80 aircraft order makes it  the largest Rafale customer after France,   will be completed by 2023 and deliveries are
                                                                       already underway with the first six aircraft fer-
                                                                       ried to Greece in January, only one year after
                                                                       the signature of the contract for 18 aircraft. The
                                                                       aircraft are now in operational service with the
                                                                       Hellenic Air Force’s 332 Squadron.

                                                                       The HAF will now receive its next Rafales only
                                                                       towards the end of 2022 and Dassault Aviation
                                                                       has stated that all 18 aircraft will be deployed
                                                                       at Tanagra Air Base by the summer of 2023.
                                                                       Dassault will build 12 new aircraft for the French
                                                                       Air and Space Force to replace the 12 to will
                                                                       be supplied to Greece. This will result in the
                                                                       French Air and Space Force being equipped
                                                                       with 129 Rafales by the end of 2025. The new
                                                                       aircraft will be delivered between 2027-2030.
                                                                       Dassault’s export backlog for the Rafale now
                                                                       stands at approximately 180 aircraft.


        6 | March 2022                                                             WWW .GBP .COM.SG/ ADT
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