Julian Moxon/PARIS
The French Government and the industry team responsible for the Dassault Rafale multirole fighter have resolved the long- standing dispute over funding development of an export version.
The deal was cemented just in time to meet the deadline for responses to the South Korean request for proposals for up to 60 aircraft, which pitches the Rafale against the Boeing F-15K Eagle, Eurofighter Typhoon and Sukhoi Su-30.
The funding solution involves the French Government paying for development of the F2 and F3 Rafale versions for the French air force and the navy's two-seat version. In return, Dassault Aviation, Thales Avionics (formerly Sextant) and Snecma will take full responsibility for the export version, which is set to cost Fr5 billion ($700 million) to develop.
Snecma and Thales will shoulder the main funding burden. Snecma is charged with developing an 18% more powerful version of the M88 engine, bringing thrust up to 19,850lb (88.3kN), Thales will increase the RBE2 phased array radar's range and Dassault will develop more advanced integrated avionics. Dassault says the export aircraft could be ready by 2006 "if an order was placed today".
Under the original Rafale development contract, industry funding for the French versions amounted to 25% of the total development cost which was to have included the F2 and F3 variants that will take the aircraft to full air-to-air and multirole capability respectively, as well as the two-seat version recently approved for the navy.
The partners and the government had long disagreed over the cost of developing the more advanced versions for the air force and navy, and wanted to follow the precedent set by the Mirage 2000-5, the export version of the Mirage 2000 which was entirely funded by industry.
Internal disagreements between the partners also had to be resolved. According to a report in French financial newspaper Les Echos, Dassault has agreed to transfer some of the Fr400 million it will save from not having to take a funding share in F2 and F3 development to Snecma as compensation for the latter's heavier cost burden for the higher thrust M88.
Besides South Korea, Dassault has hopes of sales in Singapore and Australia, and it is still offering the aircraft to Greece, which has committed to the Eurofighter.
Thales has received Fr740 million from the French Government for the production investment and manufacture of an initial series of the Optronique Secteur Frontal electro-optical system for Rafale.Source: Flight International
