Persian Gulf & Middle East Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Qatar adds a dozen more Rafales to order

  • 07 DECEMBER, 2017
  • SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
  • BY: CRAIG HOYLE
  • LONDON
Qatar will operate a future fleet of 36 Dassault Rafale fighters, having signed an option to boost a previous commitment for 24 of the type.

Announced by the manufacturer on 7 December, the development builds on a contract signed in May 2015 covering the provision of 18 single-seat Rafale EQs and six two-seat DQ-model trainers. Dassault has not disclosed whether the fresh order for 12 units will contain any additional trainers.

The Qatar Emiri Air Force is scheduled to take delivery of its first Rafale in 2018.

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Dassault

An artist's rendering of the combat aircraft shows it in a two-tone grey camouflage livery and armed with MBDA's radar-guided Mica medium-range air-to-air missiles and short-range Diehl Defence IRIS-Ts.

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Well nice to see the French Fighter is finally making sales.
Qatar use since long time French fighters and others weapons used before actuals Mirage 2000-5 the Mirage F1 and as say Jeff for F-35 the beat goes on :)
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Qatar adds a dozen more Rafales to order

  • 07 DECEMBER, 2017
  • SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
  • BY: CRAIG HOYLE
  • LONDON

Qatar will operate a future fleet of 36 Dassault Rafale fighters, having signed an option to boost a previous commitment for 24 of the type.

Announced by the manufacturer on 7 December, the development builds on a contract signed in May 2015 covering the provision of 18 single-seat Rafale EQs and six two-seat DQ-model trainers. Dassault has not disclosed whether the fresh order for 12 units will contain any additional trainers.

The Qatar Emiri Air Force is scheduled to take delivery of its first Rafale in 2018.

getasset.aspx


Dassault

An artist's rendering of the combat aircraft shows it in a two-tone grey camouflage livery and armed with MBDA's radar-guided Mica medium-range air-to-air missiles and short-range Diehl Defence IRIS-Ts.

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Well nice to see the French Fighter is finally making sales.
Real !

Qatar.jpg
Qatar - 2.jpg
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
490 VBCI enormeous they have 70 AMX-10P and 13 VTT !!!

GDA 2017: Qatar becomes first VBCI export Customer

The French-made
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has finally secured an export customer in Qatar, following a billion-dollar trade deal finalised between France and the Gulf state on 7 December.

In addition to the armoured vehicles, the two countries agreed on several major contracts including additional Rafale fighter jets, commercial airliners and infrastructure projects. The deals are likely to be worth around €12 billion ($14.1 billion),
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The Qataris have committed to purchasing 490 VBCI vehicles from French manufacturer Nexter, although the potential value of the contract, number of variants, or a production schedule has yet to be made public.

It is likely that the Qatar Armed Forces will take delivery of the new
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unveiled by Nexter two years ago. This version has a new all-welded aluminium hull design with a higher roof line to provide greater internal volume, and an increased GVW of 32t.

The VBCI-2 also features upgraded powertrain components and a modular armour package.

What turret system will arm the Qatari’s IFV variant is also still unknown. However, it is understood that Nexter trialled the VBCI with its new two-man T40 turret to a Middle East customer in 2015, which was most likely Qatar.

The T40 turret will equip the French Army’s next-generation
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which is being procured along with the
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as part of the service’s Scorpion programme.

This turret is armed with the 40mm stabilised Cased Telescoped Armament System (CTAS) developed by CTA International, a joint venture between BAE Systems and Nexter. Lockheed Martin UK,
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for the British Army’s Ajax and Warrior, might also try and pitch a turret solution to Qatar.

The French Army currently utilises a conventional one-man 25mm turret for its VBCI fleet, but could adopt the T40 in the future.

The new order from Qatar will be welcome news for the French manufacturer, which recently finished VBCI production for the French Army but did not have any follow-on export orders to keep production running at its Roanne facility. It is currently upgrading older French VBCIs and incorporating some of the new features from the VBCI-2.

The VBCI’s export prospects have waned over recent years, particularly in the face of stiff competition from the
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,
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and
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– all of which have achieved some degree of export success.

A Qatari requirement for new 8x8 vehicles has been on the cards for the last several years, with Patria and Lockheed Martin also pitching the AMV with a 40mm CT turret. The armed forces currently operate an ageing fleet of IFVs and APCs, mostly French, including the AMX-10P and the
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
BAE Systems announces £5bn deal to supply Typhoon jets to Qatar

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has announced a £5bn contract to supply Typhoon aircraft to the Qatari air force.

The deal, which will help secure UK jobs, includes a support and training package. The contract is subject to financing conditions and is expected to be fulfilled no later than mid 2018.

It provides for 24 Typhoon aircraft, with delivery expected to commence in late 2022. About 5,000 people in Britain are employed to build the Typhoon, mainly at Warton in Lancashire.

Charles Woodburn,
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, said: “We are delighted to begin a new chapter in the development of a long-term relationship with the state of Qatar and the Qatar armed forces, and we look forward to working alongside our customer as they continue to develop their military capability.

“This agreement is a strong endorsement of Typhoon’s leading capabilities and underlines BAE Systems’ long track record of working in successful partnership with our customers.”

Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, who oversaw the signing of the deal with his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, said: “The contract will secure work on the production line at Warton into the next decade.”

He also agreed a package of training and cooperation between the air forces under which they will work together more regularly, including Qatari pilots and ground crew receiving training in the UK.

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is the ninth country to buy the Typhoon, with the first aircraft delivered to Oman this year.

A spokesman for the Unite union said: “The government should follow this news up by signalling its intention to protect highly skilled UK manufacturing jobs by bringing forward an order to replace the Red Arrows’ ageing fleet of Hawk jet, as well as backing the advanced Hawk, which is under development.”

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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Rafale, armored vehicles ... Qatar trusts Made in France

The Emirate exercised its option for an additional 12 Rafale after an order of 24 aircraft signed in May 2015. Qatar has also signed a letter of intent to purchase 490 VBCI, a first export success for the vehicle. shielded Nexter.

New export success for the French Defense team. In Doha, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron and Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, Eric Trappier the CEO of Dassault Aviation has signed a sales contract for 12 Rafale with the State of Qatar. The amount has not been disclosed but the options generally benefit from the same pricing conditions as the initial order. In May 2015, sales for the 24 aircraft were estimated at € 6.3 billion, including training and armaments. By taking an option for 36 additional aircraft, the Emirate could eventually have a fleet of 72 Rafale, the largest after France. In addition, Qatar has signed a letter of intent to purchase 490 VBCI, Nexter's 8-wheel drive armored vehicles, which are making their first export success.

Three years to produce a Rafale
The Qatari army has asked for specific technical options. The Rafale delivered will correspond to the latest version that benefits the French Air Force, the F3R standard incorporating active antenna radar. However, the aircraft will be delivered without the electronic systems corresponding to the nuclear mission and without the NATO standard communication systems. In addition, Qatar has selected the Sniper pod (optical system that allows to implement the laser-guided bombs) of the American Lockheed Martin rather than the Talios solution of the French equipment manufacturer Thales. As it takes three years to produce a Rafale, the first deliveries for Qatar are expected in 2018.
With this success, Dassault Aviation has sold 96 Rafale for export to three different nations (24 in Egypt, 36 in Qatar, 36 in India). This compares to the 180 aircraft ordered by the French Army, 149 of which were delivered. The Rafale has an export rate of 35%. Unexpected figure five years ago when some people still called it an "inexportable" aircraft, but still far from the Mirage 2000 exported at 50%, or the Mirage 3 (and its derivatives) exported to more than 70%.

However, the story is far from over. Countries could follow the example of Qatar like Egypt, tried to exercise its option for 12 additional aircraft or place additional orders as intended for India. To this is added a list of countries that have or will launch competitions to equip themselves with fighter jets and where France has positioned itself: Belgium, Canada, Malaysia.
Ascent in progressive rhythm

Paradoxically, these export successes do not materialize dramatically at the level of the Dassault Aviation assembly line based in Mérignac. On the one hand, because the deliveries made for export now compensate for the drop in deliveries to the benefit of the French army. Thus Dassault Aviation will deliver only three aircraft to the DGA (Directorate General of Armament) in 2018 against 11 on average. At the end of July, the Egyptians had received 11 out of 24 aircraft on order.

On the other hand, because it is primarily the subcontractors upstream of the manufacturing process that are concerned. They start producing sets of equipment corresponding to a rate of between 2 and 3 devices per month. However, as of 2019, we should see the chains of the aircraft manufacturer Rafale Indians, Qatari and Egyptians ...

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Nov 29, 2017
Sep 25, 2017
LOL now noticed a good question Is Political Leverage, Not Capability, Behind Qatar Fighter Orders?
Sep 21, 2017
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and what could be related is
Qatar agrees to terms for buying Typhoon, Hawk aircraft from UK
8 hours ago
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reading again: "The Qataris already have a done deal from earlier this year with the U.S. for the purchase of 36 Boeing F-15QA jets for $12 billion. In 2015, the Gulf nation purchased 24 Dassault Rafale fighters for about $7.6 billion."
now Qatar inks deal with UK for 24 Typhoon jets, training package
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Britain has signed a deal with Qatar to supply
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as well as a weapons and training package — the biggest export sale of the jet by the U.K. in more than a decade.

Recently appointed U.K. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson was in Qatar‘s capital Doha on Dec. 10, along with his Qatari counterpart, Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, for the signing of a deal expected to be worth an amount approaching £6 billion (U.S. $8 billion).

BAE Systems’ element of the deal, including support and initial training, is worth £5 billion, according to the British firm.

The largest export deal on the Typhoon was landed by the British in 2006 when Saudi Arabia purchased 72 of the jets. More recently, Italy secured a major sale for the Typhoon when Kuwait acquired 28 jets.

British, German, Italian and Spanish governments are partners in the Typhoon program. The aircraft are built by an industrial consortium comprising Airbus Defence and Space, BAE Systems, and Leonardo.

Aside from the Eurofighter Typhoon jets, the Qatar deal includes the supply of a weapons package covering MBDA-built Brimstone 2 ground-to-air and Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles as well as Raytheon’s Paveway IV precision-guided bombs.

The British Ministry of Defence said in a statement that during his visit, Williamson also agreed to a package of training and cooperation between the two countries’ air forces, which includes training for Qatari pilots and ground crew in the U.K.

Subject to financing conditions being met and receipt by BAE of the first payment, the first of the 24 aircraft are expected to be delivered to Qatar in late 2022.

The first down payment is expected no later than mid-2018, BAE said in a statement.

The deal with Qatar is expected to keep the Typhoon assembly line at BAE’s Warton, northwest England, site open until 2024.

Significant redundancies announced for Warton and elsewhere by BAE in October will go ahead despite the latest order.

The Typhoon deal will now see the Qataris operate three top-line fighter types. In the last couple of years, Doha has also ordered Dassault Rafale and Boeing F-15 jets. Last week, France announced it was
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for 24 aircraft by another 12 jets.

The deal comes with Qatar still in the midst of an economic and diplomatic boycott by Saudi Arabia and its regional allies, who accuse Doha of funding terrorism groups and cozying up to Iran. And the deal follows 18 months after the Italian government secured a deal for 28 Typhoons from Kuwait.

Qatar will be added to a growing list of Typhoon customers in the region, which also includes Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi’s have the biggest Typhoon fleet in the region with 72 and have been in talks for several years over a further batch of about 48 jets.

BAE officials recently
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that the company was working flat out to land the deal but admitted there was still a raft of issues to overcome.

While the announcement is good news for maintaining Typhoon production well into the 2020s, another jet sale to Qatar is on hold for the moment. There was no signature on a contract to buy six BAE Systems Hawk jet trainers that was part of a statement of intent agreed between the two countries in September.

The MoD statement said the agreement signed Sunday includes a clear intention to proceed with the purchase of the jet trainers.

BAE executives told Britain’s parliamentary Defence Select Committee that the company had already begun funding low-level manufacturing activities for the Qatari Hawk jets at its own risk.
 

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
Production start for Kuwaiti Typhoon

Eurofighter has announced that production has begun for the first Typhoon for Kuwait. The manufacturer describes the Kuwaiti Typhoon as the most advanced to date, with Captor-E active electronically scanned radar and new additions to the weapon system.

The Ministry of Defence of the State of Kuwait signed a contract on April 5, 2016 for 28 Typhoons to be supplied by the Leonardo Aircraft Division, which heads up the Italian side of the multinational Eurofighter programme.

According to a December 12 press release from the parent company: “Production activities have begun in order to comply with the contract and the customer expectations. Long-lead-time items procurement has been immediately activated and the supply chain has been mobilised.”

Giancarlo Mezzanatto, Eurofighter Programme Unit Vice President of the Leonardo Aircraft Division said: “Production activities started in the second half of 2016 and are currently in line with the baseline plan and, in some cases, ahead of schedule. The wing skins of the first left-hand wing at Leonardo and right-hand wing at Airbus Defence & Space in Spain have already completed and the assembly phase will start before the end of 2017.

“The first rear fuselage section is going to start the Stage 2 assembly phase at Leonardo in early 2018, while the Stage 1 assembly phase is already running in BAE Systems for the first five aircraft. The centre fuselage section, produced by Airbus Defence & Space in Germany, will start the assembly in the first half of 2018 having already commenced the ‘pre-assy’ phase according to the plan.”

The Kuwait Air Force will receive Typhoons with MBDA Storm Shadow and Brimstone air-to-surface weapons integrated.

“This configuration foresees the integration of a new advanced laser designator pod (the Lockheed Martin Sniper) that will expand Eurofighter’s portfolio of cleared laser designator pods, the introduction of the DRS-Cubic ACMI P5 combat training pod, an enhanced navigation aid (VOR) and the E-Scan radar CAPTOR with its antenna repositioner”, continued Mezzanatto.

Work is also under way to establish infrastructure in Kuwait to operate the aircraft. Construction activities started in August 2017 and are concentrated at Al-Salem Air Base, which will house the jets.

Delivery of the aircraft will start in 2020 and will be completed in 2023. The agreement with the Kuwait MoD includes initial support services for three years, with an option for a further five. This includes the supply of equipment and a suite of training devices to establish a pilot Operational Conversion Unit in Kuwait.
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FORBIN

Lieutenant General
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GDA 2017: Kuwait bolsters Patriot system inventory
12th December 2017 - 05:12 GMT | by
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in Kuwait

The delivery of additional
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to the Kuwaiti armed forces is imminent, according to industry officials speaking at Gulf Defense and Aerospace in Kuwait.

The Gulf country, which was the first customer in the region for the system back in the early 90s, will receive two more systems from Raytheon, as well as
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hit-to-kill missiles from Lockheed Martin.

The $655m contract for the two additional fire units and associated spares was announced in February 2014 by the US Department of Defense, with completion expected in April 2018.

The Kuwaiti Air Force has a dedicated air defence force that operates the Patriot missile defence system, along with the
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Gary Menke, Kuwait country leader for Raytheon, told Shephard that delivery of the first firing unit was expected shortly and would be the latest Patriot standard known as Configuration 3.

‘There are definite capabilities increases over the original system, it’s much easier to maintain, mean time between failure is reduced and there are performance increases,’ he said.

A Patriot fire unit generally consists of a radar set, engagement control station (ECS), launcher stations, antenna mast group and interceptor missiles, though the exact configuration depends on the country.

In 2012, the US State Department cleared the way for Kuwait to receive several additional Patriot components including 60 PAC-3 missiles, four radars, four ECS and 20 launching stations.

A total of 16 PAC-3 missiles can be loaded onto a launcher compared with just four PAC-2 interceptors.

Raytheon is also under contract to upgrade Kuwait’s legacy Patriot systems as part of a $523 million contract awarded in 2016. This will see the Kuwaiti Air Force’s existing Patriot systems upgraded to the Configuration 3+ standard, in line with the two new systems.

‘That process will begin in the next 12-18 months to upgrade the old systems to the Config 3,’ explained Menke.

The contract covered the modernisation of six fire units, with a completion date set for around March 2022.

With the threat from rogue ballistic missiles steadily growing across the Middle East, Raytheon has seen its customer base for Patriot and its associated missiles grow. Users in the region now include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE.

As part of a 2014 contract worth $2.4 billion, Qatar will receive ten Patriot fire units with deliveries expected to be complete by 2019. In addition, Raytheon will provide technical assistance to Qatar for its missile defence programme as part of a
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TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
US announces new assistance to Lebanese military
By:
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  59 minutes ago
23
J7C3P56ISJEQZGCEXX6FLRZ3UE.jpg

United States Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard, center, inspects military vehicles that were unloaded from a ship at Beirut's port in Lebanon on Aug. 14, 2017. The U.S. announced on Dec. 13, 2017, a new military assistance package, valued at more than $120 million. (Bilal Hussein/AP)

BEIRUT — The United States has announced new assistance to the Lebanese military including helicopters and other advanced military equipment.

The new assistance package was disclosed during a visit by the head of U.S. Central Command Gen. Joseph Votel to Lebanon on Wednesday during which he met with the army chief and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Speaking after the meeting in Beirut, American Ambassador Elizabeth Richard said the package, valued at more than $120 million, includes six new light attack helicopters, six unmanned aerial vehicles and communication and night vision devices.



She said the equipment will help the army “build on its steady strong capability to conduct border security and counterterrorism operations.”

Washington has been a major supporter of Lebanon’s army, and has provided more than $1 billion in military assistance to Lebanon since 2006.
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