Peppered with questions at Saturday's press conference about the
current rift between France and the U.S. regarding the Iraq war,
Charles Edelstenne, Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO, repeatedly
minimized its impact on international military and civil aircraft
sales.
"It doesn't change the game world-wide," Edelstenne
said, regarding military sales. "Some countries will want
to buy American and some countries won't. France and the USA have
been allies for over two centuries and there have been difficulties
in the past [which they've overcome]. This one should vanish soon,"
he assured.
When asked whether France's opposition to the war in Iraq would
help spur military aircraft sales in countries historically opposed
to US foreign policy, Edelstenne emphatically said, "No.
No profit can be reaped. Countries will maintain their basic portfolio
[of aircraft]. Some countries don't want to buy American. And
some countries want to have two sources."
But Edelstenne earlier qualified that response by saying, "However,
the U.S.'s renewed determination to assert its power may change
the hand dealt in certain markets, which are more sensitive to
politics than civil markets."
Export sales of Rafale, Dassault's premier air-to-air fighter,
have been weak, some in the aviation trade press have claimed.
"You're all too impatient," Edelstenne responded. The
go-slow sales approach is intentional because Dassault wants to
modify Rafale to endow it with a ground-attack capability. While
this would make Rafale competitive with other advanced strike
fighters, Dassault hasn't pursued it because would-be export customers
such as UAE and South Korea, among others, haven't been willing
to buy the substantially more expensive dual-role version. And,
France's Ministry of Defense-Dassault's only primary customer
for the Rafale-also hasn't been willing to fund the upgrade.
Edelstenne, though, made no mention of recent reports that Dassault,
along with Snecma and others on the Rafale team, would fund upgrades
for the export market by themselves.
Edelstenne declared theoretical discussion about competition from
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with Rafale is a moot point. "F-35
has all the qualities you want, because it doesn't exist,"
he commented.
Dassault Falcon Jet sales admittedly are off, but Edelstenne pointed
out that so are the sales of the firm's competitors. And unlike
archrivals Bombardier and Gulfstream, Dassault hasn't had layoffs
and only anticipates a reduction in force of "a few per cent"
next year, in light of production cutbacks.
Fears of anti-French attitudes on the part of U.S. customers have
failed to materialize. "We've had just one order cancelled
and it cancelled because of economic reasons," Edelstenne
claimed. "There have been a few moody events, but no cancellations,"
he said. And there's been no evidence of cold shoulder treatment
from sales prospects. "No one has said, 'Let's call it quits,'"
he asserted.
