From Flight International

 

Libya 'to order 13-18 Dassault Rafale fighter jets', rejecting Eurofighter, French press reports

By Justin Wastnage

 

Libyan leader Col Muammar al-Gaddafi has reportedly selected the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jet to re-equip the country's air force ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon.

 

Libya is reportedly close to finalising an order for between 13 and 18 Rafales in a deal worth as much as €2.5 billion ($3.24 billion), French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche says.

 

The newspaper cites industry sources and government insiders as saying Gaddafi chose the French offer over a refurbishing of and unspecified number of the country's mixed RSK MiG fleet of Mig-21s, -23 and -25s. Proposals from China and Russia were also considered, the report continues.

 

If true, the deal would be the first export order for the Rafale.

 

The deal is expected later this year, once technical discussions with Dassault have been completed, it continues.

 

[This has been rumoured for awhile now, and is still being viewed with more than a little skepticism. That said, Libya DOES have a history of operating French aircraft, and it would be a breakthrough for Dassault. Wait and see ... ]

From Flight International

 

Dassault and French defence ministry deny newspaper reports of Rafale sale to Libya

By Craig Hoyle

 

Dassault Aviation and the French government have distanced themselves from national media reports that suggest Libya has become the first export customer to select the Rafale multirole fighter.

 

A 14 January report in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche claimed that between 13 and 18 Rafales could be supplied to the Libyan air force under a burgeoning relationship between the nations’ governments. If concluded, the sale could be valued at up to €2.5 billion ($3.2 billion), it said.

 

Countering the claim last week, a Dassault source said: "There are no negotiations with Libya on the Rafale." Any decision to offer the aircraft would have to be made by the French government, but defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has also denied the report, the source added.

 

Dassault participated in the Libyan Aviation Exhibition in Tripoli early last month, with its attempt to sound out future business opportunities in the country also supported by the French air force’s deployment of a two-seat Rafale B to the air show. Other aircraft on display included Alenia Aermacchi’s M-311 and MB-339 jet trainers.

 

Libya late last year placed a major contract with French industry for the modernisation of 12 of its air force’s Dassault Mirage F1 fighters. Understood to be valued at around €100 million, the Sofema Groupe-brokered upgrade will provide significant work for airframe manufacturer Dassault, engine supplier Snecma and avionics house Thales.

 

Additional details of the F1 modernisation programme have not yet been released. The Libyan air force has an operational fleet of 32 F1AD/ED fighters and six F1BD trainers, according to Flight’s MiliCAS database.

From DefenseNews

 

Deal Near on Sale of 14 Rafales to Libya

By pierre tran

Published: 19 Mar 11:04 EDT (15:04 GMT)

 

PARIS - Commercial and technical negotiations on a sale of 14 French Rafale fighter jets to Libya have been largely completed, and politics will dictate the timing of any announcement of a deal, an industry executive said March 19.

 

"The negotiations are done, more or less," the executive said.

 

Asked when a deal would be announced, the executive said, "It's politics, it's always politics."

 

Col. Muammar Khaddafi, the Libyan head of state, signed an agreement granting six months' exclusive negotiations for the Rafale when he visited Paris in December 2007. Human rights organizations criticized the visit by the Libyan leader and the prospective arms sales.

 

The Rafales expected to be sold to Tripoli would be similar to the F3 standard entering service in the French Air Force, capable of aerial combat and ground strikes.

 

The weapons package is being negotiated separately. MBDA, the European missile firm that supplies weapons for the Rafale, declined comment.

 

France has yet to sell the Rafale to a foreign customer, although the aircraft is flying in a handful of competitions.

 

"Negotiations are still going on with Libya," Jacques-Emmanuel Lajugie, the head of the international division of the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA), said March 17. The talks were lasting as long as expected, he said. The DGA is the French government's military procurement office.

 

MBDA CEO Antoine Bouvier said separately March 17 that he expected a large export sale for missiles tied to the Rafale this year or next, as well as weapons for the FREMM frigate, a new warship being built for France and Italy.

 

There are concerns that the economic crisis will hit defense spending in Brazil and Greece, where the Rafale is competing for orders, the industry executive said.

 

Switzerland has completed a series of flight trials of the Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Sweden's Gripen as part of a tender to replace F-5 fighter jets. It is expected to take six months to evaluate the data from the tests.

 

India also is looking to buy 126 new warplanes, but that competition is expected to take a long time, even by military procurement timetables, industry executives said.

 

Dassault is looking for customers to buy the Mirage 2000-9 aircraft that the United Arab Emirates intends to replace with Rafales, Chief Executive Charles Edelstenne said March 19. A first delivery of the Rafale to the UAE would not be before 2012, and the UAE Air Force would probably need about three year's time to train aircrews on the new aircraft. "We have time to prospect," he said.

 

DGA Chief Executive Laurent Collet-Billon said March 17 that the French Air Force would not be taking the Mirage 2000-9s from the UAE.