Collet-Billon, the Head of the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) expects this outstanding performance to continue in 2015.
Last year was a “good start” in the multiyear military budget law, which assumes wins of foreign deals for French weapons, Collet-Billon told journalists last month in a review of 2014. “I think 2015 will allow us to confirm the rising trend,” he said.
The $3 billion Saudi funded order for the Lebanese Armed Forces is included in this estimate, he said.
The annual parliamentary report on military exports, due end of May, will set the official final figure, he added.
A more up-to-date, unofficial estimate puts the figure slightly higher at €8.3 billion, a source close to the Defense Ministry said that beats the €8.16 billion sold in 2009, which is the highest hit since 2000. Sales in 2013 were €6.87 billion.
On 16 February 2015, Egypt signed a 5.2 billion Euro deal for 24 Rafale combat jets made by Dassault Aviation, a multi-mission naval frigate, and air-to-air missiles. This is the first export contract for the Rafale (photo).
France “now appears to be positioning itself for lucrative military deals in the gulf region,” the U.S. global security consultancy Stratfor observed.
Negotiations to sell 60 Rafale jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to replace its Dassault Mirage F-2000-9s acquired two decades ago have dragged on for years, but the French jet remains in the running with Boeing's F/A-18 its only apparent competitor for the $10 billion contract.
Gas-rich Qatar, which is looking for 72 frontline jet fighters, is another potential buyer for the Rafale. “Significant work is in hand” with Qatar on the Rafale and “discussions are going on”, Collet-Billon said.
Earlier this year, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met his Qatari counterpart in Doha and also spoke to the Emir, he explained.
Qatar is looking to place an order for 24 Rafale jets, with an option for 12 more.
India, however, is a complicated issue as New Delhi wants prime contractor Dassault Aviation “to accept responsibility” for local production of the Rafale by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), Collet-Billon said.
Dassault would produce the first 18 units and HAL would assemble the remaining 108 if the deal were sealed.
