France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Lethe

Lethe

Captain
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France had offered the United Arab Emirates to participate in the development of the Rafale F5 in exchange for funding for the program. But Abu Dhabi ended up paying a bill without any technological return. At the end of December, the break was consummated. As a result, France will finance the Rafale F5 alone as part of the update of the military programming law.

[....] The crisis has essentially left its mark on the armed forces' budget, which will still remain severely constrained despite the upcoming recapitalisation of the military programming law (€36 billion). The update of the MPL is due to be examined by the Council of Ministers on 8 April after it is passed this week by the Council of State. What crisis are we talking about exactly? The financing of the Rafale F5.
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the UAE was ready to finance the new standard fighter aircraft until the end of last year to the tune of €3.5 billion out of a bill of around €5 billion which, at the end of December, had yet to be found.

[....] Conclusion of this story, the Ministry of the Armed Forces must finance this bill alone as part of the updating of the LPM with the consequence of "spreading the jam on the toast", according to the Ministry of the Armed Forces. This very clearly means that the financing of the Rafale F5 will be stretched out over time with deliveries of Rafale to the F5 standard staggered in time. A long-standing habit in the armed forces to finance shortages of budget appropriations.
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Beyond the politics, the significance of this development to my mind is in potentially recalibrating just what France intends to deliver with Rafale F5 and when. A quarter-century ago now, UAE funded the creation of F-16 Block 60 with enhanced
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offering greater thrust than the existing -129 engine. Without UAE funding, the -132 engine would likely not have reached production; indeed, so far as I can tell the UAE remains the only customer for it. One wonders if history repeats and if the UAE may have been the driving force behind the mooted M88 T-REX program. If the UAE will now not be contributing development funding for Rafale F5, does M88 T-REX remain part of the roadmap?
 
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sunnymaxi

sunnymaxi

Colonel
Registered Member
Safran Aero Engine is upgrading its forging capabilities by investing €150 million ($176 million) in the acquisition of a 30,000 metric ton hydraulic press at a facility in Gennevilliers, northern France, where it manufactures strategic parts for commercial and military aircraft.

At full capacity, the new press will produce up to 14,000 Engine parts per year.

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