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QEAF had ordered a total of 36 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation in two tranches for around €7.1 billion
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It has also ordered 24 Eurofighter Typhoons from Britain and 36 Boeing F-15QA aircraft from the US
Qatar Emiri Air Force has added four more Rafale fighter jets from French manufacturer Dassault, local reports have said.
The four multirole combat aircraft include three single-seat Rafale EQ and a twin-seat Rafale DQ, said the local reports.
QEAF had ordered a total of 36 Rafale aircraft from Dassault Aviation in two tranches for around €7.1 billion ($8.38 billion by current exchange rates).
In 2015, it ordered the first tranche of 24 Rafales at a cost of €6 billion (approximately $7.08 billion in today’s terms).
Then, in 2017, it ordered another 12 of the same aircraft from Dassault, in a deal that was valued at €1.1 billion (around $1.3 billion going by the current exchange rate).
The first of these aircraft arrived in 2019, and with these four, a total of 27 of the ordered jets have arrived from France, said the local reports. This means another nine remain to be delivered, they said.
QEAF Rafales are said to operate primarily from the recently constructed Tamim Air Base by the Al Adiyat squadron.
The French Air and Space Force conducted the initial training of QEAF personnel at a joint operation.
QEAF reportedly has the option to ordered another 36 Rafales from Dassault.
Meanwhile, it has also ordered from Britain 24 Eurofighter Typhoons, an aircraft developed jointly by British defense group BAE Systems, France’s Airbus, and Italy’s Finmeccanica.
It has also ordered 36 Boeing F-15QA aircraft from the US, and is expected to receive delivery of the jets soon.
