Excellent Photo stolen shamelessly from: The Engish Sabla Mr Sarkozy: Surprisingly tall. Sans Wife (that's an Aid)
He did not. as far as I know, bring his totally hot wife. Woof Woof!!!
[for those who don't know the beautiful Mrs Sarkozy, see the British Press tabloid version. (OK, and for those of you who DO know the story,
this is probably what you want to see)
It seems while he was here, he really tried to
flog us some French Jets.
Didn't seem so far to have had much luck. We'll see.
Tough time to be selling new planes though, what with the global meltdown/crediti crisis. Maybe the French payment plan is totally great.
And how great for France that their guy is out there pushing product tho'. Work it baby, work it!
I'd say it'll be a while before we commit to spending that sort of money anywhere. There are at least 3 (OK, 6 if you want to be silly) options: British/German: The Euro Fighter. French: Rafale. And USA with F2099 (or what ever). Expect loooooong negotiations Mr Sarkozy!
I'd expect Oman right now could get jets not just on the never never, but on the "never never ever have to really pay" plan. They must be giving them away. Time to buy.
Maybe. Heh heh...
Offers?
[Remember, the real payback for the supplier with this sort of kit is the parts, training, maintenance, etc. Its like the old 'shaver and blades' trick]
France offers Rafale fighter to Oman - sources
Wed Feb 11, 2009 1:45pm IST Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+]
MUSCAT, Feb 11 (Reuters) - France is proposing that Oman replaces its ageing fleet of Jaguar ground attack aircraft with Rafale combat planes built by Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), French diplomatic sources said.
The offer was made by visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a meeting and dinner on Tuesday with Sultan Qaboos bin Said on the second stage of a Gulf tour, they said.
Oman wants to replace a fleet of almost 20 Anglo-French Jaguars, in service with the Royal Air Force of Oman for around 30 years.
France is looking for a first export customer for the multi-role Rafale but is expected to face competition in Oman from rivals including the EADS-built (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) Eurofighter.
Sarkozy is on a three-nation visit to Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, countries which tradiitionally buy strategic hardware from the English-speaking world.
"These are by tradition Anglo-Saxon countries -- fine, but France has its own cards to play," Sarkozy told journalists before meeting the Sultan of Oman.
"I am not going to leave here empty-handed. We are sowing seeds and then we will fight to defend our companies and bring back contracts," he said. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry, editing by Dan Lalor)
Sarko is trying his luck everywhere with the Rafale. Qatar/UAE/India. No luck for them so far, which could mean Oman could pick a bargain. Oman is better off getting the JSF or Su 30MKI from India/Russia if looking for value for money. But Oman would probably want to integrate their airforce with whatever is available with GCC i.e American figher aircraft. I'd suggest JSF or F/A 18.
ReplyDeleteI thought Oman already has the F16?? Why would Oman be still shopping??? Maybe if the French are willing to offer 0% down and 0% payments for a very long long time that would make it an attractive deal.
ReplyDelete"He did not. as far as I know, bring his totally hot wife. Woof Woof!!!" now that's a deal breaker :)
I wonder.. was he miffed to see British planes flying around to welcome/secure him? And until a few years ago, those planes would have been flown by the Bri'ish themselves!!
ReplyDelete-Salmonella
P.S. Where's the wife? If I were here, I'd want to come here!
As "Anonymous" states, the F-18 is a reasonable bet for the Omanis to buy. However, it is not the greatest cat in the world when it comes to operating out of hot and dusty environments and is much more suited to carrier based operations.
ReplyDeleteIt also is not the most tolerant of cack-handed pilots and has a very nasty bite when you tale your eye off the ball.
The Rafale, on the the other hand, is built like a tank, has incredible stability and multi-role operational power in all weathers and has proven itself more than capable in desert combat.
The political choice will be the Hornet.
The "thanks for bailing us out" choice will be Eurofighter. (It was 'secretly' demo'ed here a while ago).
The smart choice would be the Rafale.
Forget the JSF - I don't see it happening. The maintenance alone on the Nintendo jet would be far too much for RAFO to cope with.
JD
we would spent our money on education.
ReplyDeleteEducation without the right attitude won't go far. Better burn it on jets and stimulate the Euro economy
ReplyDeleteHere's details of the full presidential technique:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7885580.stm