Not again II - French and Saudis

M

merocaine

New Member
I'm puzzled, "not again" in what sense?

I for one, am glad to see the French again trying to flog arms to unsavory regimes, every now and again the French goverment mounts thoses efforts to break into the Saudi market, but I'm afraid that is an anglo saxon reserve, as BAE will testify, or won't as the case may be. :D
Forgive the cynicism.
 
Feanor

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Enough for what? Coastal defense? Maybe. Control of the Hormuz straights? Probably not.
 
S

swerve

Super Moderator
merocaine said:
I'm puzzled, "not again" in what sense?

I for one, am glad to see the French again trying to flog arms to unsavory regimes, every now and again the French goverment mounts thoses efforts to break into the Saudi market, but I'm afraid that is an anglo saxon reserve, as BAE will testify, or won't as the case may be. :D
Forgive the cynicism.
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The French do make sales every now & then. Al Riyadh (stretched La Fayette) frigates, F-2000 frigates, Durance replenishment ships, AS.365, AS.352 & AS.332 helicopters, AS.15TT & AM.39 missiles (some sort of pattern emerging?), AMX-30 tanks, & if you think of Airbus as French, A330MRTT tankers.

Not quite as exclusive as you might think if you look only at the army & air force. Given French success in certain niches, I'd never discount the possibility of them selling more ships & helicopters.
 
E

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
swerve said:
The French do make sales every now & then. Al Riyadh (stretched La Fayette) frigates, F-2000 frigates, Durance replenishment ships, AS.365, AS.352 & AS.332 helicopters, AS.15TT & AM.39 missiles (some sort of pattern emerging?), AMX-30 tanks, & if you think of Airbus as French, A330MRTT tankers.

Not quite as exclusive as you might think if you look only at the army & air force. Given French success in certain niches, I'd never discount the possibility of them selling more ships & helicopters.
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There is a rumor flying around that Saudi Arabia may in fact be looking or was looking at replacing those AMX-30B`s with Leclercs, apparently this is why the Russian T-90 deal may be on the back burner.
 
Feanor

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
It may be that they would like to get the Leclercs, but if France again tries to push through a package deal, they might turn to the Russian T-90, like they did with the helicopter deal.
 
E

eckherl

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
Feanor said:
It may be that they would like to get the Leclercs, but if France again tries to push through a package deal, they might turn to the Russian T-90, like they did with the helicopter deal.
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We shall see what happens, they are most likely looking at replacing their AMX-30B`s and M60 series which makes up a good number of Saudi armor. M1A2 in Saudi service is not going any where, matter of fact they requested 56 additional M1A1 tanks back around the year 2006 with basic M1A2 upgrade plus with a little twist of AIM for all their M1A2`s.

I think with the new leadership in France that we could see a different approach for weapons sales that will meet with some success.
 
Feanor

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Saudi is supposed to negotiate with Russia some time this summer, I heard. Maybe something will come of it then.
 
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