This looks like a very transparent lobbying ploy by EMBRAER. This letter was from the CIESP branch in Sao Jose dos Campos. Guess who’s the #1 employer there? EMBRAER…

I doubt it. It’s a great carrier fighter for french carriers. Your point would only make sense if the RN were to procure Rafales of the same configuration with the MN. But most certainly they would want to inject some of their own equipment and weapons which would… cost in terms of both money and time.

So what equipment or weapons does the RN still have that it would want to add to the Rafale? They’ve already been stripped bare by the RAF, and given the unhappy Joint Force Harrier experience, they might actually be favorable to having less than 100% commonality with the RAF.

Even if the MoD mandates commonality with the RAF, there’s only a handful of RAF equipment that would be really interesting to integrate on Rafale:

– Litening designator pod
– AMRAAM
– ASRAAM
– Brimstone
– Raptor reconnaissance pod
– Helmet mounted sight

Of these, only 2 (Brimstone and HMS) would bring a real operational advantage over what’s currently integrated on Rafale, but I’ve included the others because the stocks already exist in the RAF so the RN might be able to get a hand on a few for “free”.

Everything else would just be a waste of time. With 300+ Rafales flying there should be no worry about spare parts shortages for the French avionics and engines. Replacing them with Typhoon equipment would be extremely costly and would bring precious little in terms of operational improvements or cost synergies. As for the comms and interfaces, they are already all NATO compatible so won’t need any modifications.

Certainly not the Gripen. Looks too effeminate, almost like a supersized trainer.

The Viggen with a full load of green painted missiles has always been one of the most beautiful aircraft ever. Though the Draken is not bad either IMHO.

The official prices?

After the release of the “Projet de loi de finances pour 2009” by the French Senate its by no means clear that the French Tax payer is paying by unit less than their European counterparts. Actually it MIGHT be the oposite.
http://www.senat.fr/rap/a08-102-5/a08-102-516.html#toc236

No, the new Rafale unit prices include VAT. Once you subtract 19.6%, the unit flyaway prices are €53-58MM, in line with previous estimates.

(This is a typical problem with Senat numbers: a few years back a lot of numbers were excluding VAT. For example, PA2 was said to cost €2.5B and FREMM €285MM, and these prices were then revised around 2008 to €3B and €500MM, leading to a certain amount of sticker shock in the media. Strangely, neither the MoD nor the Senat communicated this very well).

Back to Rafale: according to senate reports, programme cost growth was only 4.5% between 1996-2007 (after inflation). Though to be fair you should also include the fact that 8 aircraft were cut to fund the Rafale’s MLU (AESA radar, OSF-NG etc), which corresponds to another 2.5% cost increase. There may also be slight cost increases due to slower production rates for the next batch of 60 aircraft, but the details haven’t been communicated (probably because they depend on the Brazil & UAE orders).

With ROVER, Typhoon has better time sensitive targeting capabilities, and with Litening III has an autonomous capability against moving targets.

I agree, though there’s a nuance between “time sensitive targeting” and “time sensitive destruction”, since a rocket propelled AASM launched over the shoulder will in some cases reach its target faster than a Paveway.

Also, AFAIK Rover is due to be operational on Rafale very soon (Q1 2010 according to the DGA), and with Damocles due to be operational in squadrons in 2H 2010, it’s not worth dwelling much on these gaps in the Rafale’s CAS ability. (IMHO, the laser guided rockets are a much bigger deal)