UAE signs record deal with France for 80 Rafale fighters

Dassault Aviation Rafale multirole combat aircraft. The Rafale will soon join the UAE Air Force fleet following a recently signed agreement between France and the UAE.

Dassault Aviation announced on Friday that it has been awarded a historic contract to supply the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 80 Rafale F4 multi-role fighters. The 14-billion-euro agreement was signed between Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation and Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of Tawazun Economic Council, in charge of security and defense acquisitions. Emirates Air Force will thus become the first user of the Rafale F4 outside of France.

The French manufacturer said this contract is the result of their full mobilization alongside the Emirates Air Force and stems from their 45-year-old relationship of trust with the United Arab Emirates, built on the Mirage family of fighter aircraft, notably the Mirage 2000-9, the modernization of which began two years ago.

“The sale of 80 Rafale to the UAE Federation is a French success story: I am very proud and very happy as a result. I wish to thank the authorities of the Emirates for their renewed confidence in our aircraft. After the Mirage 5 and Mirage 2000, this Rafale contract consolidates the strategic relationship that binds our two countries and the satisfaction of the Emirates Air Force, a long-standing and demanding partner of our company. I wish to underline the quality and effectiveness of the relationship between the French authorities and industry, which contributed to this success by team France.

This contract is excellent news for France and for its aeronautical industry, for the entire ecosystem of 400 companies, both large and small, which contribute to the Rafale: this represents thousands of guaranteed jobs in our sector for the coming decade. This contract, which is the largest ever obtained by the French combat aeronautics industry, consolidates a national industrial base, which is without doubt unique in Europe, comprising as it does major groups and SME/SMIs, around a company which has been the prime contractor for all the generations of military and civil aircraft for the past 70 years. The success of the Rafale with our armed forces and its sale to the UAE Federation, as well as its export to five other countries who are already customers, clearly shows that French combat aviation is an internationally recognized center of excellence on the national industrial landscape,” Eric Trappier said.

Source, Image: Dassault Aviation