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Following Indian MMRCA success, Dassaut’s Rafale also tipped for Brazil

Dassault’s success in being selected as the lowest bidder for the Indian MMRCA competition with the Rafale aircraft seems to be having a significant impact in other deals. The Rafale is now the most likely winner of the Brazilian contract for 36 aircraft. The aggressive pricing by Dassault and the active (and very effective) lobbying by the French government is a potent combination. The Rafale has not yet been sold outside France and the Indian and Brazilian deals are critical for the future export life of the Rafale.
In Brazil the Rafale is competing against Boeing’s F-18 and Saab’s Gripen. Though Saab is also desperately looking for export orders for the Gripen, it is unlikely that it can afford to drop its prices by the levels that Dassault obviously can. Boeing on the other hand is not so dependent on the Brazilian orders and is unlikely to drop its price by very much – especially since they will not wish to disturb the already very high price levels they enjoy for exports to the Middle-East. And that probably leaves the Rafale sitting very pretty.

Svenska Dagbladet reports (freely translated):

It is “very likely” that Brazil will select the French fighter aircraft Rafale, according to anonymous government sources who spoke to Reuters. It is thought that President Dilma Rousseff and her advisers believe that Dassault with its Rafale offers the best deal among the three companies that are still left in the competitition for the sale of 36 aircraft. The other two are the US Boeing F-18 and the Swedish Gripen by Saab.

The president earlier doubted the French option because no Rafale aircraft had been sold outside France. However the situation has changed with Dassault’s  breakthrough in the procurement of new combat aircraft by India where it was selected as the sole company to proceed with the negotiation process. “The Indian affair changed everything. After India’s decision, it is now very likely that the Rafale will win here” said Reuter’s source.

Ett Rafale-stridsflygplan under en flyguppvisning i Paris i somras.

A Rafale on display in Paris last summer

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This entry was posted on February 13, 2012 at 11:35 am and is filed under Aviation, Brazil, Business, Defense, India. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.