I also don’t think that the score of 6 points = F/A-18C/D’s A2A and A2G capability, otherwise:

* Rafale: 7.00 to 7.41 points ~ not much better than a low-end member of teens family in 1990s.

* EF2000: 6.06 to 6.54 points ~ almost no better than a low-end member of teens family in 1990s.

* Gripen: 4.64 to 5.62 points ~ even worse than a low-end member of teens family in 1990s.

In that case, the Swiss airforce should just ask American for selling more upgraded second-handed or newly built F/A-18C/D ~ Why should it pay much more money to buy a completely new fighter that is not much better, or even worse than, the fighter it already has now ??

If it may help, the Typhoon is given at 315m/s climbing rate.
Rafale at 305.

That is initial / sea-level climbing rate, which is not equal to the overall climbing performance from braking-off to 36,000fts/40,000fts/50,000fts or so.

The initial climbing rate of MIG-29 is declared to be 330 m/sec, which is 15 m/sec more than the Typhoon’s initital climbing rate mentioned above, but the Germany pilot still declared that Eurofighter has significant better overall climbing performance to the high altitude than the previous MIG-29.

UAE is using Eurofighter, not Gripen or F/A-18E, to threat Dassault to cut down the price right now. And if Eurofighter GmbH can offer a lower price or a better deal that satisifying UAEAF more, and Dassault simply can’t do the same (or better) because that will make it lose money, then I would say it is the problem of Dassault itself ~ The problem of lacking competence.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=8315802&c=FEA&s=CVS

Mideast Setback for Rafale, Dassault

UAE Faults Offer, Widens Fighter Competition

By PIERRE TRAN

Published: 20 November 2011

UAE officials are unhappy with what they see as French industry’s failure to “understand the political nature of the deal.”

That led to deep dissatisfaction with the entire deal, the terms, specifications and price. The components pitched by Dassault did not meet requirements.

“The price is ridiculous,” the source said.

That dissatisfaction led the UAE to issue a request for proposal (RfP) to Britain for the Typhoon, following an Oct. 17 briefing on the aircraft built by the Eurofighter consortium.

The two-page RfP document may be brief, leaving Eurofighter executives keen for clarification, but the leak by a British team member of Eurofighter put Dassault out in the cold, despite the warm gulf weather at the airshow here, which closed Nov. 17.

With the Eurofighter now in the bidding, on top of earlier UAE requests for information about the Boeing F-15 and F-18, and Lockheed Martin’s F-16, that meant there would be no deal in the near future.

“This is now an open competition,” the gulf source said. “It is going to take months to go through the offers and compare the data.”

UAE officials felt “unease” over the French “mechanism,” seen as lacking coordination among the various parts of the offer.

========================================================================

(Robbin Laird, a partner of consultancy ICSA, based in Paris and Washington)

The key to India is Thales, not Dassault, Laird said. Thales is well-respected by the Indian authorities because the electronics company has built a strong and diversified presence in the country. Eurofighter is building a presence in India, but Thales has a decade advantage.

“Is Dassault skillful enough to exploit that advantage?” Laird asked.

India seeks 50 percent industrial offset, seen by a British official as a large proportion of the total deal, estimated at about $10 billion.

========================================================================

The European budget crisis makes it hard for Paris to find money to co-develop a Rafale version that meets the UAE’s needs for range, payload, thrust and sensors. The French government is funding the 11 minimum units a year to keep the Dassault line running at an economic rate, but the question is for how long.

“This could be the future of the line,” Aboulafia said. “An advanced fighter built from mainly domestic sources is the ultimate luxury.”

Is French anxiety to maintain its AAA credit rating a factor, piling pressure on the defense budget?

“Absolutely,” Aboulafia said.

========================================================================

For Laird, the crisis over the euro single currency also weighs on the fighter talks. The euro’s collapse has boosted the acquisition price but there is uncertainty where the currency will be in the future.

For instance, Berlin opposes Paris’ support for the European Central Bank buying European bonds, seen as critical to supporting the euro. That kind of deep policy split begs the question of whether there will be a euro in five years, Laird said.

========================================================================

On the technical requirements, the 7.5-ton thrust of the Snecma M88 engine is still an issue in the export market, Laird said.

“The engine is the most negative focus among export partners,” he said.

The powerplant is vital for the fighter’s growth potential as the engine generates power for all the onboard subsystems, and there is concern that the present M88 model lacks growth potential.

French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet has said the Rafale had shown in the Libyan operations that the present M88 engine met the UAE’s requirements. That assertion may well be what UAE officials had in mind, when they privately say: “Don’t tell us what our requirements are.”

Laird said a General Electric-Snecma co-development, would be based on General Electric’s F136 engine technology, and would make sense for upgrading the Rafale.

I thought the Harpoon was getting rather old and dated?

It’s interesting to note that Harpoon block III was canceled; presumably because the Americans are moving onto newer and better things?

A:

http://www.defense-update.com/features/2010/november/18112010_lrasm.html

LRASM-A: a stealthy and subsonic ASM that is derivative from JASSM-ER.

LRASM-B: a ramjet powered supersonic Anti-ship / Cruise missile.

ArcLight: a 7 Mach-class hypersonic cruise missile with the effective range of 2,000 NM (3,704 km) class.

Because it is a political purchase ~ A gift for strengthening the relationship between the France and UAE.

And now it seems that UAE is very unhappy to the French industry’s response for its gift, and prepares to get it back and let the deal to be an open competition.

UAE: “We want to give a real big gift, the first foreign order of Rafale, to France for strengthening our relationship. But what does the French industry pay back to us? A package with ridiculous price (which is two times of F-16E), unsatisifying terms, and unacceptable specifications? Do you really think we, UAE the Rich, have no choice other than Rafale for our future fighter, huh ??”

LM and Boeing: “Ooh la la la…..another screw-up for European, and golden chance for American:D”

>> If India chooses Typhoon.. what would Brasil do?

A:

Choosing its own F-X2 fighter from Rafale, Gripen NG, and Super Hornet.

The second-hand Mirage 2000Cs for BrAF need to be retired and replaced at the time of 2013~2014. There is simply no time for BrAF to re-open F-X3…….