Public sentiment regarding Ukraine's acquisition of Rafale fighter jets from France is predominantly skeptical and critical. Many commenters express doubts about the feasibility of the deal, questioning Ukraine's financial capacity and the practical applicability of the jets in the ongoing conflict with Russia. There is a prevalent belief that the deal might serve more as a public relations measure rather than a substantial military advancement, alongside concerns about timing, leadership decisions, and potential corruption.

Ukraine

France

Macron

How long would it take for France to build such a big order?

-Revelation-

News snippet: PARIS (AP) — Ukraine on Monday signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale warplanes from France, the Ukrainian Embassy and the French president’s office said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron signed the document stating that Ukraine is considering the possibility of buying French defense equipment, including Rafale jet fighters, Macron’s office said. It did not provide further details.

Zelenskyy was on his ninth visit to Paris since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. His talks are meant to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses as the country enters another winter under Russian bombardment of its energy infrastructure and other targets.

AndroidOne1

I wish Canada would invest in jet creation

CountOnBeingAwesome

A hundred Gripen JAS 39s and now a hundred Rafales? That's an astonishing fleet size. Erm... who exactly is paying for this? It may top 20 bill euro.

sinsimmer

Great for Ukraine but they will be operating many different airframes

aindriu80

Both rafale and gripen or did they just dump the gripen option?

Kyeithel

The deal also includes 8 SAMP/T air defense systems and drones with deliveries starting in the next 3 years, so its not just about the Rafales. France confirmed they can ramp up production without touching their own active fleet which is pretty important detail people seems to miss

Ok-Poem291

At the moment, almost all non-military expenses are paid for by foreign grants. Teachers, firefighters, officials — all receive their salaries from European money (mostly). If there is no progress on confiscating Russian assets, Ukraine will already have no money to exist by February. From what reality is this news taken?

General-Researcher-2

Wait a minute, didn't they just do this wìth the Gripens aswell?

Total-Satisfaction-8

ukraine doesn't have the money, france doesn't have the jets.  its just a good vibes press release, like the grippen one a month ago.  

They'll sort out what kind of fighter fleet they need when they know what kind of a country they're going to have

DDmikeyDD

It's a letter of intent like the Gripen deal. So it's not really a deal at all.

Whiteyak5

This is a huge move for Ukraine, 100 Rafale jets over a 10-year period is not just a short-term boost; it’s a long-term bet on rebuilding a modern, Western-style air force.

sudeepm457

I'm wondering if this is a fallback in case the Gripen deal falls through.  Since the Gripen uses US engines, US may prevent them from exporting it to UA.

kritikally_akklaimed

Far_Out_6and_2

Hopefully they’ll just do a swap as soon as they are decommissioned from the NATO package….Great value pick for the UKR💪🏼

BeAr_cosmicLy

Even if they buy them tomorrow, they’ll be delivered in the late 2030s. They aren’t going to see this war.

I also hope for Ukraine they pick a furnished and stick to it. Over diversity in an air force is a slow and insidious killer.

Buy American, buy French, buy Swedish, but don’t buy all three

CBT7commander

I dont know how that war will end, but Ukraine will be in debt for at least a century when its over.

Affectionate_Dot5547

ButtFuzzNow

Awesome how much europe has been stepping up to defend europe.

ffking6969

Can only be good, russian AA has been getting hammered for a while now.

aza-industries

From where is Ukraine going to get $10 billion?

Let alone the money to fly and maintain them.

Hot-Science8569

Agreement to maybe buy is basically worth the paper its written on, more likely PR to put pressure on russia same with grippen deal. Could by a nice way to get France to "loan" some for right now! Because this deal would see first ones delivered no sooner than end of decade

Corny_Snickers

Scary_Business3616

Wars these days are so weird. I thought stealth was a strategy used during war.  Now newspapers announce the next battle or type of battle. What is going on here?

Particular_Today1624

seems a bit of a slap on the nose not to go with the F-15EX or F/A-18. Long range missile attachments far exceed the capability and range of the Meteor. The AIM-260 JATM isn’t cleared for export but what a signal of support that would be.

citrusco

solving problems that he created, in other news, the sky is blue and Trump raped those kids.

AutomateAway

SuperRektT

They went from throwing rocks to buying 100 planes. The come up is real 💯

Norfside-Shorty

Buying Rafales against a country with easy access to the J10 and PL15..

This has got to be a joke right. At least get something that isnt already shown to be weak to Chinese tech

chimkennugeys

Puzzleheaded-Bug6244

It's a letter of intent, not a formal order.

  
Big difference.

MichiganRedWing

cx50ex

Without the French military EU would be toothless. I'm glad to have them in the union, and happy that they've invested in keeping their military industrial complex independent and modern. True defenders of democracy.

khinkali

So 200 total with the 100+ swedish gripen? Really? Kinda makes the gripen deal (and this one) look less likely.

Ciff_

Im totally for supporting Ukraine, but I just dont see how these fighter jet "letter of intents" is a good way to spend the time. 

Doesnt matter if its 100 Rafaeles or Gripens, they will take 10 years to deliver. Shouldnt the priority be to actually get Ukraine through their current situation? Kiev is getting attacked almost daily by hundreds of drones and the front-line is (very) slowly moving the wrong direction. And constantly we are told there is a shortage of man-power in the Ukranian military.

Focus on how to absolutely maximize the lethality of the 2025 and 2026 Ukrainian military. What can be done right now to bleed the Russian military as severely as absolutely possible and push the russian general population closer to war-fatique.

ananasiegenjuice

If the US had only stopped worrying about Russia they were prime to get the investment! Maybe they’ll not surprise everyone and trump lets Putin buy American fighters! Murica is a joke

UpstairsArmadillo454

So how does this align with the gripen deal last week/week before? Is it just about keeping their options open?

Outrageous-Bug-4814

Lord0fReddit

jose_elan

GerryAdamsSon

Yes, everyone lives in a 5 star apartment with pool and roof terrace with sauna. Honestly, the extreme level of costs that would be 1000% better off in the population that needs it!

Routine-Airport-5327

Not my first choice but at least it's something.

Other countries need to do more for Ukraine considering they are literally defending Europe from Russia all by themselves.

Rush_Banana

0 is a number. 

What are jet fighters supposed to do in drone warfare?

kirkbadaz

[deleted]

Ok. This is suspicious as hell. What is EU up to?

Lazar_Milgram

100 new Rafales and 100-150 Gripens. Ukraine does need that but I'm curious about financing.

bklor

Macron and Zelenskyy signed an agreement for Kyiv to acquire up to 100 Rafale fighters, SAMPT/NG air-defense systems, radars systems and drones,

600 AASM Hammer guided bomb will also get Delivered to the Ukrainian Forces.

UpgradedSiera6666

8 samp/t ng too, with the contract over 10 years .

Other stuff are things like 600 hammer bombs, drones to intercept shahed/gliding bombs and those that travels up to 500km to destroy ennemy target so nothing really special still good to have.

SraminiElMejorBeaver

So Ukraine want to acquire 100 Rafale and around 100-150 Gripen over a period of about ten years ? 
That's huge and very good for European military industry. Russian will be mad as usual but we have no reason to care about that. 

The only question that i have now is how Ukraine will be able to finance this purchase. Will they use the russian asset in Europe ? Will they bet on a post-war boom ? Will they pay with drones production ?

Alert-Pickle590

I’m guessing the EU will finance this somehow.

TheoryOfDevolution

Much like the proposed Gripen purchase these are purely letters of intent. For purchases far in the future that won't affect the current war (or the current active phase of the war, if you define the war as starting in 2014).

Ukraine is entirely dependent on mostly European countries and the EU to keep its state apparatus and military running, with a GDP of about $200 bn. it has requested $60 bn. in foreign defence financing help for 2026 alone, and some sources estimate a total of $120 bn. needed next year in external funds.

No one knows how these big foreign purchases are supposed to be financed - everyone is dancing around the frozen Russian funds right now with no solution in sight (Belgium doesn't want to touch them), and the existing financial pledges for next year are barely enough to keep the doors open in Ukraine. 

Is the EU supposed to pay for the Gripen and Rafales? Are Sweden and France financing most of it? Is there going to be a 'loan' (with the clear expectation of that loan never going to be repaid in full given the financial realities of a post-war Ukraine)?

VigorousElk

EmptyBodybuilder7376

Why does it say buy?

Have you seen the state of Ukraine's economy?

Granturismo45

Anyone else think Zelensky is relying very heavily on getting frozen Russian funds which is not fully decided yet? Keep in mind the big order of 100+ Gripen jets.

RChristian123

What’s this ? Not wanting to be at the whims of the USA when it comes to operational aircraft ? 

Airurando-jin

Nice. That should be their air force well and truly sorted on the long term as long as they can find the money to follow through

tree_boom

Who is funding this ? France ? NATO ? EU ?

&gt;The letter of intent, which is not a purchase and sales contract, is projected to be realised "over a timeframe of about 10 years", the French presidency added.

What happens in 2027 and the next French President (Bardella(?)) decides to change this ?

krazydude22

Just words. Ukraine doesn't have the means to buy the Gripen or the Rafale. Zelensky is simply sending a message to EU and NATO: "pls buy these jets for us". 

Dassault will not manufacture a single jet unless they get strong guarantees. Dassault is a fully private company, the french government cannot force anything.

I wonder though, what do the Typhoon countries (Germany, UK, Italy and Spain) think of this? They will be directly financing a Typhoon competitor. Or is Zelensky going to the UK next and announce a LOI for 100 Typhoons?...

Beyllionaire

Letter of intent are meaningless. Its like me going to a Ferrari seller and saying "I might buy it". 

Remember Poland buying thousands of K2 tanks, Borsuk IFV and 500 Himars? Yeah. All letters of intent. Actual purchases are much smaller.

Even if EU somehow finances the purchase of Gripens and Rafales, Ukraine wont be able to afford the training of crews and maintanance.

AMGsoon

kaamliiha

That's pretty cool. How many can they produce annually?

Sizeablegrapefruits

On a serious note, if anyone wanted to train or retrain in avionics or mechanical , now would be a good time to chase your licences for Avionics or B1/B2. 

Pretend_Safety

I mean, why only a 100? Why stop there? Make it one thousand? I myself intend to buy a couple as well

megabyteraider

LoI's in politics.. populist symbolism at its best

Automatic-Pay-4095

Why not 4000? Hell, make it 5000 that sounds even scarier!

Sergeantson

Unqualified303

Ah yes, a debt trap… And if Ukraine fails they don't have to do anything. How smart.

furyofSB

MAXtommy

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AutoModerator

If the Jets that Ukraine MAYBE will get in 10 years or so is "turning the tide of war" then it means that the war is still ongoing for those 10 years. I am not even sure what is worse, war still ongoing in 10 years or that, at that point, those planes would play a significant role

Erondo_Gratias

We've seen similar fantasy articles about every piece of military equipement before. I remember headlines like this almost word for word about the Abrahams and Leopard.

At this point propaganda like this does more harm than good.

CiceroForConsul

Demiourgois

Didn’t the F16s already turn the tide of war?

No single weapon system or vehicle system is ever going to do that.  Well except maybe a nuke.

Agent-c1983

the letter of intent about a 2035 delivery without secured funding is the wunderwaffel to turn the tide of the war

cryptox89

Please stop. This is a disservice to Ukraine. These plans are for years from now, assuming the country survives.

Survival is not a foregone conclusion. Things are not looking good. Operationally, financially, politically, socially, the country is struggling.

There are much bigger problems that need solving immediately.

maverick_labs_ca

Urf. Yes, if Ukraine could suddenly deploy 100 Rafales tomorrow (with trained pilots and ammo and everything) they could turn the tide.

But they're not getting 100 Rafales tomorrow.

iBorgSimmer

Surprisingly proud of this community, not a single poster so far has gulped this copium like crazy like people always do. Perhaps it's because it's late in Europe and naive kids have been sent to bed or (hopefully) it is because there are still people with critical thinking and memory capacity above one of a goldfish. Great job people. My faith in people on this subreddit has skyrocketed.

EU_GaSeR

fart-to-me-in-french

The jets themselves won't, but maybe it'll help secure more of other support from France.

fredmratz

Not sure if the war would be going on by the time they deliver the first batches.

Shrtaxc

Newsweek, you embarrass yourselves with this article.

rah2501

By Ellie Cook — Senior Defense Reporter |

Ukraine will receive 100 French Rafale fighter jets from Paris as part of a long-term defense agreement that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed as a "historic deal."

Under a 10-year agreement, Kyiv will receive upgraded models of the multirole aircraft, along with an unspecified number of radars, stocks of missiles and guided bombs, and eight SAMP-T surface-to-air missile systems, Zelensky said.

Zelensky inked a letter of intent alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at an air base close to the capital on Monday.

Read more: [https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-rafale-jets-deal-could-turn-war-against-russia-11059057](https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-rafale-jets-deal-could-turn-war-against-russia-11059057)

newsweek

What will the population of Ukraine be by 2035? Like 5 million or something?

KaptainPancake69

Gripen and Rafale. No American planes.

The American military complex can't be happy

RoyalSwedishCoin

They’re going to have a very extensive fleet with a lot of different types of aircraft. I worry about how well they will be able to support such a variety of planes. But I hope it all goes well.

Soap_Mctavish101

Wowowow hell yeah that’s why I pay taxes in FR ! For the president Macron to implement such deal ! About TIME ! Lets gooooooooo 🇺🇦🇫🇷

Spiplot

Well the funding is coming from the EU, so it's great to see it come back in the EU.  Maybe other investors in other regions might start to take notice of how that works...

UnlikelyRabbit4648

How is Ukraine going to pay for this AND all the gripens they want to buy?

Fancy_Particular7521

I noticed the pressor stated they were purchasing some SAMP/T systems as well.  I wonder how many and will MBDA and Thales up production levels for both systems and missiles so as to fulfill the orders sooner rather than later?  Right now the manufacturing rates of the system and Aster 30 missile are so low as to be almost invisible.

lifeisahighway2023

Miserable-Surprise67

This is fantastic, but the more important question is: when will the first Raphael Jets arrive? As Ukraine needs them now!!

hypercomms2001

Grien and rafale combined they’ll have like 200 jets?

lemmerip


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odds of gripen re engine project going ahead with the same engine as rafale?

m1013828

If the USA is going to fail on its promises over the last century, then just bypass them enjoy the economic and military success.

MeteorOnMars

Ukraine is going to have a hole zoo of western machines. Only the best for or heros! Slava ukraini!

Sad_Visual_8727

Ukraine has signed a significant agreement with France for the acquisition of up to 100 Rafale fighter jets to bolster its military capabilities against ongoing Russian aggression.

Ukraine Rafale Fighter Jet Deal

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