AUSTRALIA HAS dropped the Dassault Alpha Jet ATS from the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) $740 million lead-in fighter contest as part of an escalating row over French plans to conduct a series of nuclear tests in the South Pacific.

Defence minister Senator Robert Ray announced the move, saying: "I've made the decision to exclude Dassault from the bidding process. I'm not trying to put a bull-dust gloss on this by saying it was a hot favourite; it wasn't."

He also says that another unnamed contender, since identified as Aero Vodochody's L-59F, had been eliminated from the shortlist, although requests for tenders, already overdue, have not yet been published.

Dassault confirms that the company will seek clarification of Ray's comment and its basis, saying: "The matter is now out of the hands of the companies and the defence department, and in the hands of the French and Australian Foreign Affairs Departments." France has recalled its Ambassador to Australia.

RAAF sources say that the announcement was unconnected to any input from the project office, and Senator Ray's office confirms that the exclusions were "a ministerial directive."

The Government had already foreshadowed excluding Dassault from bidding in June, when France announced the resumption of nuclear testing in the Pacific, the minister saying that he would review contracts involving French manufacturers "on a case-by-case basis".

The exclusion of Aero Vodochody, confirmed later at the company's request, was completely unexpected, however. A source close to the Czech company says: "It's a shocking way to do business, and the companies concerned have a very good case to say their reputation is being ruined by it. Right from the initial briefing, it was stated there was no preconception about the source of supply of the aircraft. To say the French aircraft wasn't a front-runner is at best a dreadful breach of commercial confidentiality."

A request for proposals, is expected to be released soon. Surviving contenders are Aermacchi's MB.339FD, the British Aerospace Hawk 100 and the McDonnell Douglas/BAe T-45 Goshawk.

French Pacific nuclear testing has affected two current New Zealand defence projects, with the Government telling the defence ministry it wants to "review" any forthcoming contracts involving French tenders.

The Army's search for a very-low-level air-defence missile, and a naval-helicopter requirement, are two projects affected.

Source: Flight International