Ukraine's 16 Rafale jets deal isn't actually signed yet
Everyone got excited about French fighter jets over Ukraine, but the jet maker just showed up to turn down the music.
Dassault Aviation boss Éric Trappier dropped the cold reality during his financial call: the contract to supply Ukraine with 16 Rafale fighter jets has not been signed yet. There is clear political intention, but the French government still needs to iron out terms and, more crucially, figure out the financing mechanism.
While Emmanuel Macron recently floated a timeline pointing at 2028–2029 deliveries, the assembly line moves at its own pace. The manufacturer already has an enormous backlog of over two hundred jets waiting to be built, scored zero fresh firm orders in the first half of the year, and just formally buried its dead-end next-gen fighter program with Germany.
A political handshake makes for great television, but defense contracts only truly exist when the accountants finish arguing.
Source: Le Figaro
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