France to sell 24 Rafale fighter jets to Qatar

France is to sell 24 Rafale fighter jets to Qatar, the third export order for the aircraft in less than three months following agreements with Egypt and India.

The contract, estimated to be worth in excess of €6bn, underscores the recent revival of the Rafale's commercial prospects amid dynamic French diplomacy in the Middle East.

The deal with Qatar is further evidence that Socialist president Francois Hollande's efforts to clinch export orders for the French combat aircraft are paying off, after decades in which it failed to win a single contract under his centre-right predecessors Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mr Hollande will fly to Doha on Monday to sign the deal with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani - the Emir of Qatar - and defence companies Dassault Aviation and MBDA missile systems, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Thursday.

"With this new export success, the Rafale jet confirms its qualities already tested in the French air force and navy," the Elysee said. "This contract, which follows [contracts signed] with Egypt and India is, for the state that has pursued it for three years, greatly satisfying."

The Rafale was developed 27 years ago at a cost of €40bn but did not secure its first export order until February, when Egypt agreed to buy 24 aircraft for an estimated €3.5bn, with the help of French financing.

This was followed on April 11 by a pledge by Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, to buy 36 Rafales for more than €4bn. The commitment, announced during a state visit to Paris, was due to an "urgent operational need" for the aircraft, Mr Modi said.

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France is also in talks with the United Arab Emirates over the possible sale of about 60 Rafales.

France's proactive diplomacy in the Middle East, including the country's tough stance towards Tehran in the nuclear talks, spearheaded by foreign minister Laurent Fabius, is helping its commercial interests, according to Dominique Moisi, founder of the French Institute for International Relations.

The US and the UK's relative loss of goodwill in the region following the war in Iraq is providing France with an opportunity to get closer to Arab powers and sell weapons, he said.

"France's diplomacy is geared towards selling weapons," Mr Moisi said.

The agreement with Qatar, whose countrymen investing in French real estate benefit from specific tax breaks implemented by Mr Sarkozy, will boost the French defence industry, and chiefly Dassault, the family-controlled company that makes the Rafale at Merignac, near Bordeaux.

Until the deal with Egypt, the jet was used only by the French air force, which had to buy a steady stream of jets to keep production going.

Airbus, the state-backed European aerospace group, holds about 25 per cent of Dassault on behalf of the French government.

The deals are also a boon for the entire French defence sector, as Thales, the defence electronics group, and Safran, the enginemaker, along with about 500 smaller suppliers, play a role in making the aircraft.

Though the deal with Qatar was widely expected given France's strong historical links to the Gulf state, the news will be seen as yet another blow to the Eurofighter Typhoon, the European combat aircraft programme 33 per cent owned by Britain's BAE Systems.

The Typhoon has been struggling to secure new export orders and BAE warned in February that profits growth and continued production hinged on winning new contracts this year.

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