Published on Wednesday 06 September 2017 at 19:24 - Updated Wednesday 06 September 2017 at 19:38
Dassault to renounce the replacement of our F-16s by its Rafale aircraft
While the offers must be handed over Thursday, only the US and British candidates would remain.
Thursday, 7 September, date of submission of copies of candidates for replacement of Belgian F-16 combat aircraft.
The contract is juicy: initially it amounts to 3.573 billion euros for 34 aircraft, and an estimate of 15 billion on the likely operational life of aircraft, about forty years.
To date, Boeing (F-18), Saab (Gripen), Lockheed Martin (F-35), Eurofighter (Typhoon) and Dassault / Safran / Thales (Rafale) threw in the towel. On the eve of the submission of the files, concordant sources point out that of the remaining three candidates,
the Rafale Economic Interest Group (GIE) and the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), under the French Ministry of Defense,
may not bid on Thursday.
The suspense could be long: the state agencies responsible for representing aircraft manufacturers - since it is a state-to-state contract -
have until Thursday midnight to file their file, in response to the Request for Government Proposal (RfGP) launched by Belgium in March.
Among the indications that the French defection is plausible, there is the sequence of communication already engaged.
This Thursday morning, the press is invited to an official briefing at the residence of the ambassador of the United States of America in Brussels, with representatives of Lockheed Martin. To boast the qualities of the F-35 Lightning II.
And Friday morning, journalists are invited to a breakfast by the UK ambassador to Belgium, to present Eurofighter's offer for the Typhoon.
On the French side, nothing is foreseen. GIE Rafale sends us back to the French embassy, which does not say a word.
In a way, Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault, prime contractor for the architecture of the Rafale, had already sowed doubt in his remarks to the newspaper "L'Echo", on the eve of the opening of the Air Show du Bourget last June: "I fear in general a desire to buy American," he said, taking as an example the contract of the century that saw the F-16, General Dynamics at the time , winning in four European countries, in particular against the French Mirage F1. "It's surely related to the relationship with NATO. But it is not incompatible to be in NATO and to use non-American aircraft, as the Rafale proves. "
French worries
Later, on 19 July, the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, General André Lanata, expressed concern about the success and performance of the F-35, which " benchmark in the global air force, not just in the United States, but also in our major partners. "
Moreover, at the end of June, Belgium announced the purchase of 477 light and medium armored vehicles to France, with the project of a "strategic partnership" at the key.
With a withdrawal of the Rafale in the balance?
In any case, if the Rafale GIE withdraws, the succession of the Belgian F-16 would resemble a race by elimination.
Then the European Typhoon, presented by Great Britain, forced to put forward strong arguments against the eternal favorite, the Lockheed Martin F-35.
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