Reply With QuoteLibya is probably looking for favors from the European Union and its members. By buying weapons from Europe, it's also buying support from politicians there.Originally Posted by adeptitus
This is a discussion on France confirms major arms deal with Libya within the World Armed Forces forums, part of the World Strategic Defence Area category; http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070803...celibyaweapons PARIS (AFP) - Libya has reached a major arms deal with the European aerospace giant EADS, the first since ...
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070803...celibyaweapons
PARIS (AFP) - Libya has reached a major arms deal with the European aerospace giant EADS, the first since a weapons embargo was lifted on Tripoli in 2004 and a potential source of embarrassment for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin confirmed Friday that a letter of intent had been signed for the sale of Milan anti-tank missiles and a radio communications system worth, according to a Libyan official, 296 million euros (405 million dollars).
I find it interesting that Libya is insisting on buying Milan ATGM's that would require EU approval, when they could've easily obtained good ATGM's from Russia? Even after obtaining its independence they still look to former colonial power as preferred source for arms?
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Libya is probably looking for favors from the European Union and its members. By buying weapons from Europe, it's also buying support from politicians there.
Junior Member
Surprise Libya has not bought the Rafale yet. They may be the first foreign customers.
Junior Member
The Rafale is being rejected from every country it's been offered to so far. It would be very costly and unnecessary for Libya to even purchase Rafales, they should just stick with their Mirage aircraft and buy upgrades for them.
Senior Member
I agree - Libya doesn't need the Rafale.
France is getting so stuffed on export orders. At the rate it's going the only hope would be for Taiwan to not get the F-16 Block 52 deal - there have been rumours that Taiwan and France could sort something out with the Rafale, maybe upgrading the Mirages as well to sweeten the deal.
Last edited by FuManChu; 08-09-2007 at 09:21 AM.
"Japan is as much of a threat to China, as China is to Japan."
--FuManChu
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Out of curiosity, why are countries rejecting the Rafale?
Is it just the price or is the aircraft lacking something?
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yeah i also wanna know....
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Taiwan can twist France's arm for some tech on the Scorpene submarines....
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I think it's down to a few things. First, it isn't as cheap as the latest F-16 or something like Grippen. Second, there aren't that many countries that have experience with French weaponary that could afford it - whereas the US has much wider market penetration, as it were. Third, some people don't consider the Rafale the equal of things like the F-35 or Typhoon (a matter of perception, not "truth").
I don't think Rafale is a bad plane at all. Maybe a simpler way of putting it is that it's not cheap enough to appeal to countries who are on a budget but not "classy" or "technologically superior" to justify a purchase by a country with a large budget.
I don't think they're that desperate yet.Taiwan can twist France's arm for some tech on the Scorpene submarines....
"Japan is as much of a threat to China, as China is to Japan."
--FuManChu
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/813144.html
Report: Libya to order 13-18 French Rafale fighter jets in $3.24 b deal
No, I don't believe Libya would spend $3.24 billion on 13-18 aircraft. We're talking about a country with what, $1.x billion annual military budget?
Senior Member
Depends on what the actual deal entails. If it is only for the airplanes, then it seems a little high. But if it includes a massive support tail, weapons, infrastructure, it makes sense.
Junior Member
Libya does have some oil fields and ever since he decided to give up his WMDs, Western companies have begun drilling in his land so military spending may end up going up.
Senior Member
Yeah, but I don't think he'd spend so much on a small number of jets like that - he's not rich like the Arab Gulf states yet.
Also if it had gone ahead I would have expected it to be announced with the recent arms sale.
"Japan is as much of a threat to China, as China is to Japan."
--FuManChu
Junior Member
Qaddafi would want more bang for his buck. He'd be better off with getting Mirage 2000s, which would also be less of a pain maintenance wise.
Senior Member
Libya was reported to be negotiating for purchase of 20 MiG-29 SMT and 12 Su-30MK's. However to best of my knowledge the deal is not finalized, and no aircraft has been delivered.
For western aircraft, the cheapest option for Libyan Air Force would be to refurbish its fleet of 22-24 Mirage F-1's, via S. Africa or France (F1-CT). Both S. Africa and France have a supply of F-1's in storage, which could be purchased for replacements or spares.
For eastern aircraft, MiG offers a MiG-23-98 upgrade program for only $1 million USD per plane. Libya has a fleet of 120+ MiG-23's that could be upgraded as an interim solution. There's also various MiG-21 upgrades, Su-22M5, and Su-24M2 upgrades from Russia.
The Libyan AF has too many old aircraft in numbers and variety. If Qaddafi wants to spend the $, he should probably look to consolidate and replace them with fewer but modern multi-mission capable aircraft, more suitable for a nation of its size and budget. Perhaps a fleet of Su-30MKM's will be far cheaper than Rafales?
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