Rafale orders revised downward?

Hi guys. I found the following at DefenceNews.com.
If the numbers are to be believed, the current unit cost of Europe´s Number one is $ 63.6 million.

“Fewer Rafales?
France Plans To Trim Order, Put Money Into Plane’s Export Appeal

By PIERRE TRAN, PARIS

France is poised to trim its 2004 order for 59 Rafale fighter jets and divert the money into development of a new radar and other electronic systems to boost the plane’s export chances, a source close to the pending deal said.

If approved, Dassault Aviation would deliver eight fewer Rafales, allowing the government to spend an estimated 420 million euros ($508.5 million) with systems house Thales, assuming unit prices based on the initial 59-plane contract worth 3.1 billion euros.

“The Ministry of Defense is studying the possibility of equipping the Rafale aircraft with future-generation sensors,” the French procurement office, Délégation Générale pour l’Armement (DGA), said in a Jan. 16 statement.

To stay within the budgetary envelope, the ministry is studying an “adjustment” in the 59-Rafale deal, it said. “No decision has been taken at this stage,” the statement said. The unit price per plane would remain unchanged, it said.

The 2004 contract took a couple of years to negotiate because of obsolescence issues. The plan to cut eight planes has been studied for about a year, but no decision had been made, one defense executive said.

The money would pay for work on an active electronically scanned array radar, improved laser guidance, better self-protection from missiles, and passive sensors. Thales is working on the active electronically scanned RBE2 radar and other systems.

The DGA last September signed a contract to develop the F3 omnirole version of the Rafale, just before the Singapore air show, to demonstrate state support for the fighter. But a cut in orders would release more funds and speed up development of a more capable aircraft, making the fighter more exportable.

The Rafale last year lost to the Boeing F-15 in Singapore’s fighter competition. Last month, Britain signed a preliminary agreement with Saudi Arabia to sell the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Agnes Blazy, analyst at CM-CIC Securities, said, “We are all waiting for news on the agreement with Saudi Arabia on the Typhoon. In the meantime, Dassault’s defense export order book is going down.”

Dassault Aviation and Thales declined comment.

A second analyst said, “There will be more money in the short term for Thales, and an impact on Dassault in the long term, with fewer deliveries.”

The potential cut in orders underlines the need to find export customers, he said. •”

As I have often said in the past, I doubt that the Rafale will get a single export order. A shame, really.