The Dassault Rafale can rely, today, on a comfortable order book of almost 300 aircraft to be produced, including more than fifty for the French air forces.
Added to this are several advanced negotiations for additional orders, notably in India and Serbia, while around ten other countries have indicated their interest in implementing or expanding their fleet of the French fighter, including the Greece, Egypt, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Colombia and even Iraq.
It is now the turn of the Peruvian air forces to enrich this list of ongoing negotiations. Indeed, according to the South American specialized press, the Rafale is today one of the two favorites, with the South Korean KF-2 Boramae, to replace the Mirage 2000P, the Peruvian MIG-29 and Su-25, while the country's authorities have announced the launch of a international call for tenders to modernize its fighter fleet.
In this section:
Le Rafale and the KF-21 Boramae given favorites for the modernization of the Peruvian air forces
With a GDP of only $250 billion for 35 million inhabitants, Peru is not, strictly speaking, a rich country. Moreover, 29% of its population remains below the international poverty line.
However, Lima has never neglected its air forces, to protect the approximately 1,3 million km², 2500 km of coastline on the Pacific Ocean, and the almost 7,000 km of borders with no less than 5 South American countries ( Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile). This is especially true since the country has tense relations with the Equator, with which it has been confronted several times in the 1995th century, the last time in XNUMX during the Cenepa War.
In fact, despite economic difficulties, the country has maintained a fleet of efficient combat aircraft, today with 8 Mig-29s, a few Su-25s and, above all, 11 Mirage 2000Ps, including two two-seaters.
However, these devices entered service in 1984 for the Mirage 2000P, and 1997 for the MIG and Sukhoi. They are now showing the weight of the years, and must be replaced all the more quickly, as several of its neighbors have also committed to this voice, including Brazil and Colombia.
It is in this context that General Carlos Enrique Chavez Cateriano, Commander in Chief of the Peruvian Air Force, announced the launch, within a few months, of an international call for tenders, to modernize the fighter fleet of the country. Little information has been made public regarding this competition, except that it will only concern 3 aircraft manufacturers previously selected, because they meet the Lima requirements.
But according to the specialized South American press, two devices are the big favorites in this competition, the Dassault Rafale French, to replace the Mirage 2000P, and the South Korean KF-21 Boramae, for the MIG-29.
The Mirage 2000 and Mirage V set the stage for successful Rafale in Peru
It must be said that the French aircraft manufacturer plays almost at home in Lima. Peru had, in fact, already purchased the Mirage V in the 70s for 34 aircraft, including 6 two-seaters, then the Mirage 2000P, in 1984, for twelve aircraft, including two two-seaters.
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“Taiwan being outside the perimeter”, unfortunately, because the external threat and the financing capacity of this state, already a client of Dassault Aviation, are there.
Absolutely. And I'm sure Dassault would be happy to sell 60 Rafale in Taipei. But that would mean giving up on the sale of Airbus in China, which brings in much, much, much more, to cite just one example. And I'm not talking about panic among Europeans in such a case.