Rafale HAF: * * F I N I S H E D * *

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Timeline
April 2013 - First rumors of a potential corruption scandal within the European Central Bank (ECB) are broken by the Guardian newspaper in London and 'Die Zeit' in Germany.

June 2013 - Speculators and rumors combine to provoke a 'run' on the Euro which loses 15% of its value in ten days trading. Sterling, Dollar & Yen values climb as investors look to dump Euros. French, Italian & Spanish currency reserves fall to lowest levels in forty years. German public spending stopped on all but 'projects       essential for public and environmental safety'.

Winter 2013/14 - All 'significant' French public spending programmes halted. Germany, Spain & Italy 'postpone indefinitely' their orders for follow-on batch Tranche 3a Eurofighters, however those already under construction are to be completed and join the Rafale in the 'Sale of the (new) Century'.

Ripple Effect and the 'Sale of the (new) Century':
Amongst the many consequences of the unprecedented 2013 Eurozone banking & corruption scandal the potential deal to sell Rafale aircraft Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar – at the original fly-away price of 80M Euros – collapsed at the very last moment. (Those nations following Oman and opting for a 'pool' of Tranche 3a Eurofighter Typhoons. These aircraft coming straight from the production line all part of the postponed German/Spanish/Italian acquisition).

In early 2014 France announced that because of its' virtual bankruptcy and unprecedented lack of foreign currency reserves, it would offer to complete twenty of the airframes slated for the Kuwait/UAE/Qatar deal and offer them for sale to 'any' nation for a fly-away cost of just 55M Euros (compared to a fly-away cost of between 100 and 110M Euros for a full price Tranche 3A Eurofighter). Germany's already postponed order for 36 Eurofighters are immediately offered in a similar deal for 77M Euros.

Several nations, who previously had seen the Rafale as beyond their reach, formerly submitted 'Expressions of Interest', including Greece:

Kuwait, UAE and Qatar jointly financed a programme to integrate current (and future) French weapon systems into the Eurofighter. The potential of even more cross-over sales was not lost on Eurofighter GMB who actively began to market the ' New Typhoon International' as an alternative or addition to 'vanilla' Typhoons already offered. Seeing the benefit of 'internationalising' their main rival, Dassault approached Lockheed Martin & Northrop Grumman to further integrate their Sniper, LANTIRN and LITENING systems for the Rafale (and export oriented Mirage 2000D's).



Stay tuned !!
Ian

[NARSES2]

I hope you had your crystal ball firmly tuned to the fantasy channel Ian

Looking forward to seeing your builds from so far away mate  (that sounds wrong but you know what I mean....I hope ) 

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

I hope you had your crystal ball firmly tuned to the fantasy channel Ian

Not certain what that means, Chris, but I've just read that 'back-story' again, not certain that I like it 

Ian

[Slerski]

I hope you had your crystal ball firmly tuned to the fantasy channel Ian

Not certain what that means, Chris, but I've just read that 'back-story' again, not certain that I like it 

Ian

Not a very happy backstory, you could say that Dassault military branch went to bankrupcy and was nationalized by the French governement (and offer a low price for the Rafale so we will be able to buy Sukhoi Su-30  )

[marco]

Hello!
Well that's a what if back story, why not... Now please the kits!!

Edit... well sure there's a long "tradition" of civil war in France (Religions Wars from 1562 to 1568, Revolution  in 1789 , Free french against Vichy's troops , in syria for example, Algeria's war has turn from a colonial war to a civil war also)... So why not (i hope it won't happen!!!) for this what if... But now explaining that it's the reason of the "discount price" of a Rafale... Well....
In French we say: "c'est capillotracté".. and i'm not able to translate it,  but that's not a rude expression..
So i'll be happy to see your kits!!!
marc

[Slerski]

In French we say: "c'est capillotracté".. and i'm not able to translate it,  but that's not a rude expression..

Maybe it's "a little far-fetched" or something like that (tiré par les cheuveux ne se traduit pas vraiment...)

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Not a very happy backstory, you could say that Dassault military branch went to bankrupcy and was nationalized by the French governement (and offer a low price for the Rafale so we will be able to buy Sukhoi Su-30  )

Yes that sounds better, I'll try and work with that.

Progress:
Started cutting plastic today, simple stuff like wheels, undercarriage, flap actuators and beginning to paint the cockpit (just the basic tones no detail painting yet). Nothing worth photographing.

More later this week - probably with photos.

AFN

Ian

[Tophe]

I would have many things to say about this interesting backstory, from inside France, but this is politics which is forbidden here
Let us see the model project now.

[FAR148]

Short and sweet! I like it



Steven L 

[MichelC]

Utterly impossible!

The HAF is about to make a deal for 15 T-50's!

Back story: Gerard Depardieu, who's palsy-walsy with Putin and just got his russian passport from him (fact), lobbied on behalf of the Greeks to get that deal to go down. Why? Just to spite the French government, that's why!

Looking forward to following this build!

Michel

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Utterly impossible! The HAF is about to make a deal for 15 T-50's!

Michel

Nahhhh, that's just an urban myth, those T-50's are going to Italy.... new mounts for the Frecce Ticolori !!

Ian

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Whilst uploading my first set of pics (cockpit etc), for this and the F-2, my laptop expired. Unfortunately I cannot access those photos now until the thing is repaired. Suffice to say, both 'pits do look very good - though I say it m'self - with all the MFD's switches and seats painted.

As this is written the Rafale is 70% built, the F-2 is some-way behind, simply because it's a more involved and complicated process.

I'll get some pics up over the weekend using my PC, just have to trust me on the cockpits tho' 

More soon.

Ian

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Exactly the same as the F-2. As ever thanks for taking the time to look, I'll do my best to answer any queries. Comments and criticism welcome.

AFN

Ian

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Self explanatory pics, because this is the third RoG Rafale I've built, I'm very familiar with the construction sequence so it really does fall together quite quickly. Just needs the rear 'splitter' between the 'cans' and the sensor panel in-front of the windshield to complete the fuselage. Next, a couple of PSR sessions !!











AFN, thanks for taking the time to look/comment.

Ian

[NARSES2]

Smart progress