Ideally, a long-term agreement would be struck, Saab CEO Micael Johansson told Breaking Defense, leading to a first squadron of C/D standard aircraft being delivered to Kyiv “sooner rather than later."
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the new deliveries on X, calling them “another significant step in strengthening Ukraine’s security.”
The initial command and control gateway to earn a continuous Authority to Operate is changing multi-domain operations.
The French aircraft would potentially be the second western fighter aircraft to be flown by Ukraine’s armed forces, joining US-made F-16s. But can Ukraine handle a split fleet, and what missions will the Mirage fly?
As Qatar awaits permission from Paris to base Rafales and Mirages in Turkey, it grapples with the challenge of finding manpower and training them to use dozens of planes it has purchased.
Egyptian sources tell Breaking Defense that this may not be the last Rafale purchase. Egypt is now eying the Rafale F4. “We are looking to increase the (overall) number to 72 or 100 units, depending on Egypt’s financial capacity.”