CHRISTINA MACKENZIE / PARIS
French defence minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has asked for an audit of the Rafale fighter programme to evaluate the technological and financial impact of a dispute with Dassault Aviation. Thiscentres on who should meet the costs of replacing obsolete components used in the Rafale F1 air-superiority version.
One option is to slip the delivery of 11 aircraft until 2008, which would save the defence ministry c550 million ($680 million)from its current five-year procurement budget.
Dassault has been negotiating the components issue with the government for several months. "The dispute centres on electronic components that are 10 years out of date. We are not to blame if the programme is 10 years behind schedule, so we are arguing over who should pay to replace them," the company says.
A decision to slip deliveries would see production slowed from two aircraft a month to one-and-a-half from 2006. If approved, the air force would receive 12 of its 13 planned aircraft that year, and the navy five, instead of six. Sixteen would be delivered in 2007, against the 20 initially planned, and 17 in 2008, down from 22.
The defence ministry and Dassault say the dispute will not affect France's total requirement for 294 Rafales. The defence ministry says it will place a contract for the development of the Rafale F3 multirole version before the end of this month, and place its second order for 59 aircraft this year.
Source: Flight International
