France Seeks UAE Backing for Rafale F5 After €100 Billion Franco-German Jet Project Collapses
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jun 15
France Seeks UAE Backing for Rafale F5 After €100 Billion Franco-German Jet Project Collapses
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jun 15
Summary
Paris said it is discussing a UAE collaboration on the Rafale F5 upgrade due from 2030, with Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin calling Abu Dhabi a potential “big client.”
The talks gained urgency after Germany abandoned the €100 billion Future Combat Air System over irreconcilable disputes between Dassault and Airbus’s German aviation unit.
A UAE deal could bring development funding, purchase commitments and local industrial work, helping France finance a future fighter as budget constraints tighten and the UAE already operates Rafales.
The push also reflects France’s broader search for defence alternatives: Vautrin said talks on a roughly 114-jet Rafale sale to India were progressing, while a separate Franco-German tank project is about 10 years behind schedule.