February 12, 200917 yr From ARES Sarkozy: Rafales, Rafales, Buy a Rafale! Posted by Robert Wall at 2/12/2009 12:26 PM CST French president Nicholas Sarkozy may yet prove to be a miracle worker. On a trip to Kuwait, Sarkozy says he's gotten close to securing an agreement to sell the Rafale strike fighters to the Middle East country. The deal hasn’t been inked, though, and it wouldn’t be the first time Paris thought it had found its first export customer for the Rafale, only to see the deal fall by the wayside. Kuwait may buy between 14 and 28 fighters, if a contract can be finalized. Kuwait was an operator of Dassault Mirage F1 fighters, although it replaced those after the 1991 Gulf War with F/A-18s. U.S. pilots, who saw the Hornets during the second Gulf War in 2003, joked they’ve been flown so little they still had their “new aircraft smell.” Kuwait could be the first Rafale export customer, although the Swiss government mid-year also is expected to announce the winner of its fighter competition. If Rafale defeats the Saab Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon there, the Swiss would have the distinction as being the first export buyer. Sarkozy has been on a swing through the Middle East, seemingly hawking the Rafale everywhere he went. During his Oman stop the fighter was also on the agenda.
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