The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently signed a contract for the purchase of 80 Rafale F4 fighter jets from the French company Dassault-Aviation. It is the largest order the French aviation industry has ever received – and a signal to US President Joe Biden.
As announced on December 3, the contract for the French Generation 4++ jets was signed in the presence of the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, Sheikh Mohammed ben Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Commander of the UAE Armed Forces), Eric Trappier (Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation) and Tareq Abdul Raheem Al Hosani, CEO of the Tawazun Economic Council, on the sidelines of Dubai Expo 2020.
The French presidency announced that the agreement is worth around 17 billion euros. This also includes twelve Airbus H225M Caracal military transport helicopters, the European company’s largest and heaviest helicopter. It is also currently being delivered to Brazil and Kuwait, and one has just been sent to the latter Gulf state for the Dubai Airshow.
Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, said: “The sale of 80 Rafale to the UAE Federation is a French success story. The contract is the result of full mobilization by Dassault Aviation together with the Emirates Air Force and builds on a relationship of trust between the UAE and our company for more than 45 years, based on the Mirage family of fighter aircraft, in particular the Mirage 2000-9, whose modernization started two years ago. I am very proud and very happy about this. I would like to thank the Emirates authorities 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 would like to emphasize the quality and good cooperation of the French authorities with the industry, which have contributed to this success of ‘Team France’.”
Trappier continued: “This order is excellent news for France and its aerospace industry, for the entire ecosystem of 400 large and small companies that contribute to the Rafale. This means production in Toulouse until 2031 and guarantees thousands of jobs in our sector for the next decade. This contract consolidates a national industrial base that is undoubtedly unique in Europe and includes, alongside large groups and SMEs, a company that has been the prime contractor for all generations of military and civil aircraft over 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 (Greece 18 aircraft, Croatia 12, Qatar 36, Egypt 54, India 36 and potentially 110 for India again, 64 for Finland and 36 for Indonesia) clearly shows that French military aviation is an internationally recognized center of excellence.” The on-off negotiations for the Rafale fighter jets lasted more than a decade, with MBZ itself publicly rejecting France’s offer for 60 Rafale jets as “uncompetitive and unfeasible” as recently as 2011. This has apparently turned around quite a bit in the meantime.
Technical details
The F4 Standard Rafale – for which the Emirates Air Force will be the first user outside France – includes improvements to the Thales RBE2 Active Electronic Scanned Array (AESA) radar, the Thales Talios long-range target illumination pod and the Reco NG reconnaissance pod, upgrades to communications equipment, an improved pilot helmet display, a new engine control system and the ability to carry new weapons such as the Mica NG air-to-air missile and the Sagem Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM Hammer) modular air-to-ground precision weapon. In addition to the software and hardware improvements, the F4 upgrade will include a satellite antenna and a new prognostic and diagnostic support system to introduce predictive maintenance capabilities. Elements of the F4 standard, which is currently undergoing flight trials, are expected to be available as early as 2022, although the full configuration will not be declared operational until around 2025. Nevertheless, deliveries to Abu Dhabi are scheduled to begin in 2026.
Signal to the USA
The sale marks a significant diversification of the UAE’s defense base, as the main supplier of military aircraft was previously the USA with its F-16E/F Block-60. It is not yet certain whether the 80 aircraft will now be delivered instead of the originally planned F-35 (Militär Aktuell reported), as the UAE will continue to diversify its security between two major suppliers, France and the USA. The deal – Patrick Durel, Africa and Middle East advisor at the Élysée has been on site for weeks – is in any case a (lavish) signal of impatience. Because the US Congress is still reluctant to approve an authorization (over 50 F-35, MQ-9 Reaper drones and guided missiles as well as precision bombs) from Donald Trump’s last hours in office because Democratic senators have concerns about human rights in the UAE and also its military relations with China – keyword Wing Loong drones – including the requested “banishment” of Huawei 5G technology from the Gulf state. At the recent Dubai Airshow, several interlocutors told Militär Aktuell that MBZ would certainly not do this. Just as little as they would accept “downgraded” F-35s because of the regional first user Israel (QME or Qualitative Military Edge).
But Tel Aviv has also established military ties with the UAE since the historic so-called “Abraham Accords” last year, and Military News had a few words with the Israeli air force chief – in a suit, not in uniform – at the Dubai Air Chiefs Conference on November 13. “Biden seems to have closed the door, which hardly pleased MBZ,” said an Emirati aviation officer at Makhtoum Airport. “The shameful and embarrassing withdrawal of American troops from Kabul has also shocked us Emiratis a lot, it has been understood as the openly visible limits of the American military umbrella.”
Denounce – don’t sell arms!
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch was naturally anything but enthusiastic about the new French arms deal in a statement: “France is continuing these sales even though the United Arab Emirates is playing a leading role in the atrocity-ridden military operations led by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen.” Human Rights Watch continues: “The French president should be denouncing human rights abuses in these three countries, not selling them sophisticated weapons!” Update from December 7: But this is not the F-35 replacement!
On December 4, the commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defense, Major General Ibrahim Nasser Al Alawi, told the state news agency that the 80 Rafale jets would replace the UAE’s Mirage 2000/9 fleet this decade. But “this deal is not an alternative to the pending procurement of F-35s, it is rather a complement to further develop the capabilities of our air force,” Al Alawi said.
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