U.S. trying to thwart Rafale sales -French minister
PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The United States is seeking to undermine France's efforts to sell its Rafale advanced fighter jet, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Thursday.
The Rafale is a next-generation, multirole combat aircraft, and has been a flagship programme for France's arms industry, but has yet to find an export buyer.
Morin last year criticised the Rafale, saying its sophisticated hardware was hard to sell against cheaper Lockheed (LMT.N) F-16s, but on Thursday he sang its praises and said France was determined to find a foreign taker for the jet.
"It is an exceptional plane, a remarkable plane. It's a plane that perfectly matches the needs of a modern army," he told France 24 television in an interview.
Asked why France had thus far failed to sign any definitive contracts, Morin said: "There is considerable U.S. pressure that prevents us from selling the Rafale and there is considerable foreign competition. There are the Russians, the Americans, there is Eurofighter. We live in a world of hyper-competition."
Libya is the only country believed to be close to signing a contract for the Rafale, but Paris fears Washington could effectively veto the sale by threatening to penalise companies which provide hi-tech components to Tripoli.
The 34 billion euro Rafale programme has been shortlisted several times by other countries, such as Morocco, but orders for the Dassault-built (AVMD.PA) jet so far have been confined to France's own navy and air force. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Quentin Bryar)
