arthuro,
Q: Assuming France gets VLO/LO techs, is there a plan to develop a "5th Gen" (or a next gen) Plane? Why would France upgrade the Rafael to a NG (although I could not find any info - so far - on this NG)?
Next:
I am not going to post the entire articles (have done so many a times), but, in recent past, there is a pattern WRT France's ability to pay for the Rafale:
France To Cut Rafale Order; Betting on Exports
Under the draft defense estimates put before the cabinet Friday, the left-wing government will acquire only 26 of the planes during the next six years.
Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said June 11 that from 2016, Dassault Aviation would have to count on exports to underpin production of the plane, which is able to fulfil several types of missions.
On Friday, the minister said on Europe 1 radio: “There are countries which today are really interested in buying the Rafale; I am thinking particularly of India, Qatar, of other countries, and I am very confident of the chances of exporting the Rafale in coming months.”
France was in exclusive negotiations to sell 126 Rafale planes to India, “and I have high hopes that this will be successful,” he said.
Sources close to the minister said the estimates were based in part on a hypothesis that at least one country among other potential buyers would place an order before the end of 2019
Here is another article that is even more graphic about the French financial crisis:
France Adjusts Fighter Programs To Meet Funding
The French defense ministry announced contracts on Jan. 10 for €1 billion ($1.4 billion) in planned upgrades to the Dassault Aviation combat jet. Yet budget pressures have forced drastic reductions in the total number of Rafale aircraft and next-generation weapon systems the ministry plans to buy over the next six years, prompting new spending for renovation of Mirage 2000D fighters and further extending the service life of aging Mirage 2000-5s.
Pressure on the nation's €190 billion six-year defense spending plan is so great that the air force wants to purchase new Swiss turboprop aircraft and associated combat jet simulators as part of an unprecedented change in the way France trains its fighter pilots.
The bolded below is all over the place!!
Despite the fact that financial pressure is reducing the defense ministry's Rafale orders to 26 from 66 through 2019, France is investing in a new F3-R-standard software upgrade that will enable full integration of new weapons and a next-generation laser targeting pod, improvements that will make the aircraft more appealing to export customers.
If reduction in planes are not enough:
To date, Dassault has delivered seven Rafales from the fourth production tranche, each equipped with the AESA radar, including six to the air force and one to the navy, according to French defense procurement agency DGA. “As part of the F3-R standard, its formal integration has started and will be fully qualified in 2018,” the DGA says, although budget constraints are again to blame for a reduction in the number of missiles ordered through 2019, to just 100 from 200.
and, then .............
The new standard will also see Thales develop, test and integrate the New Generation Laser Designation Pod (PDL-NG) under a separate €120 million development contract that follows last year's €55 million risk-reduction phase.
The pod is expected to provide new day/night imaging and engagement capabilities in complex theaters of operations, and it is designed for integration with both the Rafale and Mirage 2000D. Due to budget constraints, however, a previously planned purchase of 45 next-generation pods was cut to just 20, according to the LPM
Dependence on export:
As a result, the sale to India has become all the more urgent, particularly since Brazil announced plans in December to purchase Swedish Gripen fighters instead of Rafales or other contenders. Still, if negotiations with India drag on and export contracts with the UAE, Qatar and Malaysia fail to materialize, Dassault will not be left holding the bag. Thanks to a so-called review clause inserted into the current LPM, the defense ministry could be asked to reconsider its reduced Rafale buy starting in 2016.
And, more accounting jugglery:
“Because of the stretching out of the orders of Rafale, we will maintain for longer than expected the Mirage 2000-5, which is a plane whose radar is at a high level of performance but whose cockpit was designed for 5,000 hours of flight,” Mercier says. “We have already gone to 7,000 hours of flight. So we need to verify whether we can continue up to 9,000 hours.”
For the Mirage 2000D, the planned upgrade will address the obsolescence of the radar, add a gun to the targeting pod and integrate MICA missiles in place of Magic missiles, Mercier says. In addition, Thales is adapting the Astac tactical reconnaissance pod to perform missions currently assigned to the Mirage F1CR.
So, that about completes the financial picture from a French PoV.
Not very appetizing, *unless* the Indian MMRCA deal goes through. We can argue that orders have been placed, upgrades will be made, production lines will me buzy, etc.............. but the fact remains that all this dependent on a very shaky financial backbone.
They are kicking that can as far as they can.
thats around $90 billion in PPP, India could build a 1000 feel tall wall all around its frontiers with 1000 feet wide minefield and 24X7 armed to teeth BSF, its indeed suicidal nothing french is worth that much.
