Dassault CEO Eric Trappier
In early May this year, a fierce air battle broke out between India and Pakistan. Pakistan announced that it had shot down five Indian aircraft with J-10Cs, including three French-made Rafales. It has been more than a month since then. Dassault CEO Eric Trappier suddenly broke his silence just as the Paris Air Show opened, accepting an interview from French financial magazine "Challenges". The core of this interview was to salvage the reputation of its own "Rafale" fighter jets and respond to the "Rafale" loss issue, which has been constantly questioned by the outside world but avoided by Dassault. He first claimed that the "Rafale" is the best airplane in the world, better than the F-35 and far superior to all Chinese aircraft on the market. To be honest, there's nothing wrong with "self-promotion" in itself, but deliberately belittling Chinese fighters to boost one's own product is not quite right. Getting back to the point, he denied Pakistan's claims about the losses of "Rafale" and emphasized that the core of operations is to accomplish tasks, and success or failure cannot be judged solely by whether there are zero losses. For this, he used World War II Allied forces as an example, implying that even if "Rafale" suffered losses, it might have achieved other operational objectives. This is clearly an excuse for the "Rafale's" setbacks, trying to blur the standards of evaluating operational results to downplay its poor performance in real combat and salvage its reputation. Interestingly, he also admitted that if the "Rafale" were to face off against the F-22 in aerial combat, it would struggle. But then he emphasized again that if you need a fighter jet capable of handling air combat, reconnaissance, ground attack, nuclear missions, and carrier landing, then the "Rafale" is undoubtedly at the top of the world. This statement is very clever;表面上看像是 objective comparison, 实则是 to highlight the multi-role advantage of the "Rafale" and prove its unique value in overall performance, somewhat evading the key issues. Its so-called "versatility" also means that some task performances are not top-notch, such as inferior ground strike capability compared to professional attack aircraft and greater survival pressure in air combat against advanced stealth fighters. Dassault is so eager to vindicate the "Rafale" mainly due to commercial interests; the sales status of the "Rafale" has always been a key concern for Dassault. Greece, Croatia, Serbia and other countries have placed orders, Trappier called this "real success", and revealed that two or three potential customers might need more planes after purchasing. However, customers' top priority now is to replenish their weapon inventories, which also reflects some practical problems faced by the "Rafale" in market promotion. That said, Trappier's series of statements are less about confidence in the "Rafale's" capabilities and more about public relations tactics taken by Dassault to maintain the "Rafale's" image and safeguard commercial interests amid market crises. Objectively speaking, the "Rafale", as a fourth-generation half aircraft, indeed has its unique features. Its multi-role capability is attractive to some small and medium-sized countries' defense needs. But calling it "the best airplane in the world" and claiming it's better than all Chinese aircraft clearly lacks objectivity and is overly hyped. After years of development, China's aviation industry has made significant progress. From J-10 to J-20, and even J-35, Chinese fighter jets have seen great improvements in terms of performance, technology, and cost-effectiveness. On the international market, Chinese fighter jets are gaining recognition from more and more countries thanks to their solid strength and good reputation. The superiority or inferiority of aircraft will ultimately be tested by actual combat and the market. Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7517292423031210531/ Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal views. Please express your attitude by clicking the "thumbs up/thumbs down" button below.