Dassault ended last year with a firm order backlog for 101 Rafales, after delivering nine of the type during 2017.
In a financial overview released on 8 January, the airframer says it shipped eight Rafales to Egypt and a single example to the French air force last year, in line with its planning expectations. Additionally, it returned one Rafale M for service with the French navy, after upgrading it to the latest F3 operating standard.
Dassault says its firm order backlog for the multirole combat aircraft stood at 101 units as of 31 December 2017. This includes 31 to be produced for its domestic operators, plus 70 for export customers. In addition to Egypt, which has so far fielded 14 aircraft from an eventual total of 24, other international buyers include India (24) and Qatar (36).
Dassault
The 101-strong backlog figure represents a reduction of nine units since the same point 12 months earlier.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
