During his recent trip to Qatar, the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Sébastien Lecornu, stated that he had a “dense discussion” with his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, at the Dukhan Air Base. This facility houses the 36 Rafale F3R fighter bombers that Qatar acquired in two phases, including an initial order for 24 aircraft in 2015 and an option for 12 more, which was exercised two years later.
According to a summary that Lecornu provided via Twitter, the primary focus of our conversation was on the growing number of operational exchanges that are taking place between our armed services and the new projects that are being developed to boost the cooperative capacities of both nations. After meeting with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, earlier in the day, he commented on the “strong” defence partnership between Paris and Doha. He emphasised that this relationship was founded on a shared vision of a strategic collaboration grounded in industrial and operational cooperation. The foundation of this relationship, he said, was a shared vision.
Within the scope of this discussion, one of the “capability projects” might involve upgrading all 36 Rafale aircraft currently in service with the Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) to the F4 level. The General Directorate of Armaments (DGA) reportedly recently qualified the first increment (F4.1, Ed.) of this update on July 25th, as reported by La Tribune.
Compared to earlier iterations, the Rafale F4 variant boasts several vital improvements. It features connectivity for network operations and comes outfitted with a multi-level gateway of the latest generation termed E-SNA (Extension of the Navigation and Armament System). Additionally, the F4 variant is equipped with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar called RBE-2 that has extended functionalities, a Spectra (Système de Protection et d’Évitement des Conduites de Tir du Rafale) system for protection and evasion, and an increased payload capacity, including the capability to carry the AASM 1000 (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire).
If Qatar were to purchase the Rafale F4, it would allow the country to compete with the United Arab Emirates, which recently announced that it would buy 80 Rafale F4 aircraft beginning in 2021. In addition, Qatar may go further by partially activating an option for an additional purchase of 36 aircraft placed in December 2017. The La Tribune reports that discussions are taking place regarding the possibility of Qatar procuring 24 additional Rafale aircraft.
The Qatar Emiri Air Force has placed orders for 72 F-15QA and 24 Eurofighter Typhoon (Tranche 3) aircraft in addition to the 36 Rafale aircraft scheduled to be delivered between 2019 and 2022. Recent events saw Qatar divest itself of its 12 Mirage 2000-5 aircraft fleet, which Indonesia subsequently acquired. The Qatar Emiri Air Force’s fleet will be multiplied by eight if all contracts are executed.
