French Arms Exports

Indonesia signs deal to acquire 42 Dassault Rafale fighter jets

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/indonesia-orders-42-rafale-jets-french-defence-minister-says-2022-02-10/

Australia wont like that... I suspect the French lowered the price or made offers to sweeten the deal to make sure it went through perhaps?

US are still offering 36 F-15EX for 13 billion dollars. And Indonesia has signed only for the first 4 or 8 Rafales. Moreover they asked for off sets in the contra t, which means France will have to reinvest a part of the money in Indonesia. India signed such agreement and never got any investement and is no sueing dassault.

It could end like in Australia.

They can keep adding zeros to the cheque for all they want - there's no money in the account.

Any claims of reinvestments in military contracts are always bullshit. They never do these offsets. Going for anything other than lowest price is always a scam.

The problem with going for the lowest price is that they will just lie... F-35s dropped in price to 80 million an airframe... but only because that is all you got... an airframe... without the 30 million dollar engine to make it an aircraft.

Of course the French are no innocents they entered an aircraft into a 10 billion dollar programme they had no intention to sell for 10 billion.

8.4 billion for 36 of the 126 required is cheating too, but India had its eyes open and made that choice so you can't really blame anyone but India for that one.

Is anyone going to make a chess joke?

Indonesia should have waited 5 years and then make their decision to checkmate the west...

US threats are only effective while the Indonesian economy is dependent on US trade. If Russia and her allies can replace the US in trade terms, perhaps offering better conditions, Indonesia might be freed to make decisions for its own security rather than giving in to US bullying and threats.

Australia to pay France $584 million to break submarine contract

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4538620.html

Sounds cheap but it is not because they are turning down a 90 billion dollar deal for modern capable SSKs so they can design their own SSNs which is going to make two times the 90 billion Australian dollars for those SSKs look cheap.

But SSKs lack the endurance to sail up to Chinese waters and harrass the Chinese navy for a month or two at a time, so SSKs are just not good enough for US interests in the region so they have to turn down the French offer and go with a joint American UK design... I guess the UK bought in to the programme by deciding to spend big money upgrading Trident at a time when their healthcare workers were put under enormous pressure and got no decent pay increases...

If only everyone who worked for the country was as well paid as politicians make sure they themselves are...

Lithuania to acquire 18 CAESAR Mk II self-propelled howitzers

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4541286.html

26 more Rafales and 3 Scorpene submarines to India

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/india-ministry-gives-initial-nod-buy-26-rafales-3-submarines-france-ani-2023-07-10/

Firm contract for 18 more Rafale fighters for Indonesia

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/4736816.html