UAE will buy a record number of Rafale fighters from France, reports Dassault Aviation. In July, the head of the state corporation “Rostech” Sergei Chemezov called this French aircraft analogue of promising Su-75.
The appropriate contract implied by 80 fighters was signed in the presence of the hereditary Prince Abu Dhabi and the Deputy Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates Muhammad Ben Zaiden Ben Sultan Al Najiani and President of France Emmanuel Macron.
“This contract, which is the largest of the ever prisoners of the French military aviation industry, which consolidates the national industrial base, which, no doubt, is unique to Europe,” said Dassault Aviation Director-General Eric Trappe.
According to The Drive, the total cost of the contract is $ 16 billion, and the first Rafale must come in 2024.
The publication notes that the Emirates initially wanted to buy American fifth generation fighters F-35 Lightning II, to which the United States was not solved due to the position of Israel, as well as the cooperation of Abu Dhabi with Beijing. The Drive reminds that Russia previously offered the United Arab Emirates cooperation in the creation of a SU-75 fifth-generation single-engine fighter.
In November Defence Bog, with reference to the Dassault Aviation concern, Croatia has signed a contract for the purchase of 12 Rafale fighters that will be replaced by Soviet MiG-21.