UAE's Rafale Jet Deal to Complement American F-35
Published at : December 09, 2021
The United Arab Emirates has entered into a contract with Dassault Aviation for the acquisition of 80 Rafale F4 fighters on 3rd December 2021. The contract was signed in the presence of the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, and Sheikh Mohammed ben Zayed Al Nahyane, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Vice-Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates Air Force will be the first user of the Rafale F4 outside France. During the Ceremony, the chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier said that 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. Although not confirmed by Dassault Aviation or the French defense ministry until now, the surprise contract is likely to be around $18 billion, making it France’s largest-ever weapons contract for export.
The UAE deal for Rafale F4 fighters has casted doubts on whether it will still buy the USA made F-35s. Abu Dhabi’s signing of the Abraham Accords to improve relations with Israel had experts believe it was doing so to also get its hands on the F-35 jets. It had proposed to buy $23 billion worth 50 F-35s, MQ-9B attack drones, missiles and bombs. While former US President Donald Trump okayed the sale, the current Biden administration is yet to clear it. Shortly after becoming the President, Biden suspended the export of weapons to U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia for their involvement in the Yemen War, a conflict described by the United Nations as one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. Abu Dhabi has also been accused of “fueling” the Libyan Civil War by supplying armed drones, and repeatedly violating end-use rules.
In mid-April this year, two U.S. Democrats brought a bill that could block the deal to the UAE. The bill called “Secure F-35 Exports Act of 2020," introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, would require that any F-35 sale to a Middle Eastern country other than Israel not compromise Israel's military advantage over such countries, and come with assurances that the aircraft would not be used in operations harmful to Israel's security. UAE’s tilt towards Rafale was well envisaged last month when F-35 was not featured at the Dubai Airshow 2021, although Lockheed Martin did exhibit a mock-up of the F-35A. However, Dassault Aviation’s static display at the show featured a Rafale C combat aircraft. The Rafale took part in the flying display every day. It was presented by the French Air and Space Force, which operates a detachment of Rafales at Al Dhafra Air Base in the U.A.E.
The Rafale F4 standard is a close match to the F-35 in several areas such as sensors, networking, weapons and predictive maintenance. The one thing that the F-35 has but is lacking in the Rafale is its stealth capability. However, experts believe that the Rafale will emerge a winner in a close combat with its American rival as it is more agile and has better maneuverability. But if the conflict happens before Rafale detects the F-35, then the latter will get an upper hand and get a chance to hit the French jet.
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#UAERafale
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The UAE deal for Rafale F4 fighters has casted doubts on whether it will still buy the USA made F-35s. Abu Dhabi’s signing of the Abraham Accords to improve relations with Israel had experts believe it was doing so to also get its hands on the F-35 jets. It had proposed to buy $23 billion worth 50 F-35s, MQ-9B attack drones, missiles and bombs. While former US President Donald Trump okayed the sale, the current Biden administration is yet to clear it. Shortly after becoming the President, Biden suspended the export of weapons to U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia for their involvement in the Yemen War, a conflict described by the United Nations as one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters. Abu Dhabi has also been accused of “fueling” the Libyan Civil War by supplying armed drones, and repeatedly violating end-use rules.
In mid-April this year, two U.S. Democrats brought a bill that could block the deal to the UAE. The bill called “Secure F-35 Exports Act of 2020," introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, would require that any F-35 sale to a Middle Eastern country other than Israel not compromise Israel's military advantage over such countries, and come with assurances that the aircraft would not be used in operations harmful to Israel's security. UAE’s tilt towards Rafale was well envisaged last month when F-35 was not featured at the Dubai Airshow 2021, although Lockheed Martin did exhibit a mock-up of the F-35A. However, Dassault Aviation’s static display at the show featured a Rafale C combat aircraft. The Rafale took part in the flying display every day. It was presented by the French Air and Space Force, which operates a detachment of Rafales at Al Dhafra Air Base in the U.A.E.
The Rafale F4 standard is a close match to the F-35 in several areas such as sensors, networking, weapons and predictive maintenance. The one thing that the F-35 has but is lacking in the Rafale is its stealth capability. However, experts believe that the Rafale will emerge a winner in a close combat with its American rival as it is more agile and has better maneuverability. But if the conflict happens before Rafale detects the F-35, then the latter will get an upper hand and get a chance to hit the French jet.
-Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. The footage/video, audio, image etc in this content is used under term of the fair use, permitted by Copyright statute, for the purpose of education, news reporting, explanation, commenting and analysis.
- All contents on Miltech Insights are presented for educational purposes of the masses.
- The appearance of visual / audio information does not contain endorsement of US DoD, French Dassault Aviation, Dassault Rafale, UAE, UAE Defence Forces or French Forces.
- Few of the images, raw footages and clips were not captured by us and are obtained from UAE MoD, French MoD and French Dassault Rafale for news reporting and commentary purposes.
This video is purely fan-made to draw & present comprehensive analysis as well as critic.
- In case of any query or reservation against the content, please email us at:
miltechinsights@gmail.com
We will honor your consideration and respectfully remove the objected content immediately.
#UAERafale
#Rafalevsf35
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