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French Pilots Open Air Display
November 15th, 2009 | Uncategorized | Posted by Pierre Tran
Thomas Brown / Staff
The elite Patrouille de France aerobatic team is due to open the flying displays at 2 p.m. local time here, to be followed by the Rafale strike fighter.
The high-profile presence of the French tricouleur at the show signals export hopes pinned on the United Arab Emirates, which has said it wants to buy some 60 of the Rafale strike fighters built by Dassault Aviation.
A woman, Maj. Virginie Guyot, will lead the French air display team, making her the first female pilot to lead an aerobatic flying team, the French Air Force said in a statement. The French Patrol flies 10 Alphajet trainers.
To demonstrate political support for the prospective sale and to underscore a renewed permanent military presence in the Gulf region, French defense minister Hervé Morin is visiting the air show, with the Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros.
A delegation of French members of parliament led by the chairman of the defense committee, Guy Teissier, is also attending the air show, as a display of bilateral political ties.
French industry looks to the Rafale as a flag bearer for foreign arms sales. Thales supplies electronics including an active electronically scanned array radar, a new version of the Damocles laser/IR targeting and Areos reconnaissance pods. Thales and MBDA have worked on the Spectra electronic warfare gear for the Rafale.
Snecma builds the twin M88 engines and is looking to boost thrust to nine tonnes from the 7.5 ton on the Rafales flown by the French Air Force and Navy.
A sale of the Rafale opens opportunities for MBDA, which has previously sold the Mica and Scalp/Storm Shadow cruise, known as Black Shaheen, to the UAE for its Mirage 2000-9 fleet.
The UAE is looking to France to find a buyer for the Mirage 2000-9 in the secondhand market to make room for a purchase of the Rafale, a Gulf-based defense official said.
Dassault Aviation and France are also looking to Brazil to buy the Rafale for its FX-2 program, in which the French aircraft is pitted against the Saab Gripen NG and F/A-18 E/F from Boeing.
France opened a joint services military base in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, signaling a heightened diplomatic and defense interest.
The Italian team flying Aermacchi jets closed the show on the first day with a spectacular display which included a low-level fly-by executed with extreme derring.
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