مقال مايكل كابيرول عن الصفقة الامارتية
The success of the Rafale in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the sixth export country for the French combat aircraft, comes at the end of a very long and often thwarted history between France, in particular Dassault Aviation, and Abu Dhabi. But the French state has been able to renew the threads of an important strategic relationship despite the three failures of the Rafale in the UAE, including that at the end of 2011. At the Dubai air show, Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al- Nahyan, who was already the strong man of the UAE, then considered that Dassault Aviation's commercial proposal for 60 Rafale was "uncompetitive". A statement that then had the effect of an icy shower in Paris.
Ten years later, relations of trust have been patiently renewed with the strongman of the Emirates since the arrival of François Hollande and his Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian. A painstaking job continued by Emmanuel Macron and his Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly. These close relations maintained over time have made it possible to hang this long-awaited success in this country,
which strategically is very important for France from a geopolitical point of view. As indeed Egypt.
The Rafale, a more mature aircraft
For a long time the Emiratis asked Dassault Aviation for a Rafale, which did not yet exist. A device that should have been developed with billions of dollars. Hence the very high invoice presented in 2011 by the manufacturer. What had particularly bristled the Crown Prince, who complained at that time of a significant price difference between his estimates and those of Dassault Aviation. Ten years later, the performance of the Rafale is close to the operational wishes of the Emirates, which offers itself the F4 standard, the same as that of the French Air Force. In addition, the performance of the Rafale during its numerous sorties during French overseas operations has been widely dissected by the Emiratis.
Under development in France, the
Rafale F4 standard will be put into service in two successive stages in France, in 2023 and then in 2025, in order to benefit from the most advanced technologies and innovations of the moment as soon as they become available. Validation of the F4 standard is scheduled for 2024, with certain functions available from 2022. The choice of the Emiratis is therefore a real sign of confidence in France on the part of Abu Dhabi and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed ( MBZ) while the device is under development.
The F-35, an outbuilding plane
By purchasing Rafale, the Emiratis can be sure they can use it as they wish with the performance required. This is not really the case with the F-35, the American plane of Lockheed Martin. This particularly annoyed MBZ during his discussions with the Americans when he initially wanted this device. For two reasons. Without confirmation of Washington's continued QME (Qualitative Military Edge) technological superiority, Israel would never have accepted the sale of the F-35, such a sophisticated weapon system, to the UAE.
As a result, the Emirati F-35s would have been degraded ("detached)" in their capabilities, particularly in terms of sensors and armaments, in order to guarantee the Israeli armed forces air supremacy in the event of a reversal of alliances.
In addition, the F-35 remains a fighter jet with a very short leash for countries that buy it from the Americans. An electronic system covering maintenance, diagnostics, supply chain management and fleet management of devices sold for export is operated directly by the HPSI (Hybrid Product Support Integration) agency, a joint body between Lockheed Martin and the US Department of Defense. The F-35 remains an aircraft of dependencies and not of independence and operational autonomy. Like France, the United States discovered in MBZ, a very demanding customer and unwilling to accept anything. Which doesn't mean the F-35 will never land in Abu Dhabi.
France and the UAE, strategic partners
No offense to the Greens in particular, France maintains a very important strategic partnership with the United Arab Emirates, a key player in resolving tensions and conflicts in the region. They do not hesitate to conduct a foreign policy which differs on a case-by-case basis from that of its big neighbor, Saudi Arabia. On January 1, they will be non-permanent members of the UN Security Council and will host the “COP 28” climate summit, to be held in November 2023. France, which maintains a joint military base in the UAE, often relies on the interpersonal skills of MBZ to advance certain crucial issues in the region.
This partnership was strengthened during the visit of Emmanuel Macron. As the president declared Friday in Dubai, he follows an agenda comprising several directions: "peace and stability in the region, fight against all extremes, fight against terrorism, and very concrete cooperation on sensitive situations". The Emiratis were also alongside the French in Operation Apagan, an evacuation operation organized by the French armed forces following the capture of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021. The Emirates were "admirable" , we believe in Paris.
In addition, the UAE, like many other countries, has seen American disengagement from the Middle East. This pushes them to diversify their political and strategic partnerships as well as their arms supplies, including France. "I always include our trade and military agreements within the framework of" a strategic partnership, for his part recalled the French president. This is the case for the sale of the 80 Rafale sold in the UAE.