Either he was misinterpreted by the journalist, or Dassault is thinking to participate in Canada to make a lot of noise and use the opportunity to harass the Americans.
Dassault is simply answering a RfI from the Canadian’s gouvernment, not trying to force or do anything special. EADS, Boeing and SAAB also received one and will likely provide an answer too.
The probability of Canaday going for F-35 is very high (90% IMHO).
You may be right, but the current scandal around the real cost of the JSF might make buying that plane a political suicide, in which case, politicians are likely to avoid that plane if it means losing the election for them.
I guess we’ll have to wait for the results from the “independant” research group supposed to look into the matter. In any case, going for RfI to several aircraft manufacturers is certainly something new that wasn’t expected.
If they don’t go for F-35, they will go for the SH instead.
Maybe, depend if they’re buying the SH as a stop gap measure until the F-35 can become more politicly and financialy acceptable, or if they’re looking for a 30 to 40 years long purchase.
No way they will buy Rafale. Their main issue with the F-35 is the cost. Why on earth would they buy a non-US fighter that is horribly expensive? It does not makes sense politically and it does not makes sense economically.
The F-35 high cost is only part of the problem. The fact that many critical issues remain is also an important factor IMO.
The Rafale isn’t the most expansive aircraft around, and as I said, the current move from the Canadian’s gouvernement doesn’t just concern the Rafale, but the Typhoon, SH and Gripen as well.
In the meantime, a potential sell to India or the UAE might give the Rafale an extra boost in lowering cost, and IMO given the current capabilities of the plane, they’re worth it.
if canada doesn’t take the F-35, the Sh is the natural candidate… but a rafale proposed at a low price to force a very low bid from boeing may be a way to hurt a competitor (who already is loosing cash with the KC-30 deal that gets delayed and obviously more complicated than “expected”… )
The SH’s price is already quite lower than the Rafale, so unless Canada ask for the Silent Hornet or something, it wouldn’t be much credible IMO for Dassault to undercut Boeing.
ToT should be less than a issue compared to other countries like Brazil or India, given Canada’s industry close cooperation with the US, so the advantage for Dassault in that area shouldn’t be as good.
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