More Rafales for France

[GOOSE]

From FlightGlobal

French defence minister Hervé Morin has approved a contract to acquire a further 60 Dassault Rafale fighters for the French air force and French navy.

The deal, approved on 12 November, will take to 180 the number of Rafales ordered by Paris so far through four production contracts.

The defence ministry confirms that its fourth tranche of Rafales will be equipped with Thales RBE2 active electronically scanned array radars, but says the delivery schedule for the aircraft will depend on potential success in the export market. The Rafale is in the final stages of competitions in Brazil and Switzerland, and is also reported to be in line to secure an order from the United Arab Emirates.

FlightGlobal link here - http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... fales.html

[hertsman]

Also on Flightglobal is a flight test report from the first Brit to get his hands on a Rafale. It's an interesting read and, without giving all his conclusions away, he's quite impressed!

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hertsman