Cooperation, Acquisition and Irma

摘要

According to several French newspapers, the Dassault team is convinced the call for tender is written in such a way that the only likely winner will be the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II. Many saw this as a sign the French were going to throw in the towel on this 34 aircraft deal, but in a surprise move on the day of the deadline, the French proposed something else to the Belgians; an inter-governmental deal, much like the one we saw last year with India. Florence Parly, the French Minister of Defence wrote in a statement on September 7 that such an agreement would go further than the delivery of Rafale fighters but would also see the two Armed Forces working much closer together in the "training, maintenance and operational domains." It is an interesting move from the French. With the F-35A being the favourite in everybody's eyes, they opted for another approach. Whether it works however, is the question. The chance that the Belgian Air Component will tighten its ties with the Armee de I'Air regarding its fighter aircraft does not seem likely. The Belgians are currently preparing to move their fighter pilot training programme to the United States and will leave BA120 Cazaux in the very near future. Rumours are that the Belgians will leave their Alpha Jets behind and that they will be taken over by the Armee de I'Air. Even though France and Belgium are cooperating in a great many areas, it would seem that even this original proposal in the form of a government-to-government contract in order to bypass the normal call for tender will not succeed.