PARIS: Military contract bungles by President François Hollande’s government have cost France nearly $60 billion, according to a damning report Tuesday from Boulevard Voltaire, a left-leaning newspaper based in Paris. In addition to the $2.2 billion that the failed Mistral deal with Russia is set to cost, another two fumbled contracts with India and Egypt for hundreds of Dassault Rafale fighter jets will see Paris lose an additional $57 billion.
France’s original $1.2 billion deal to build two Mistral warships for Russia was shelved in June after Paris refused to hand over the vessels because of Russia’s support for separatist rebels in Ukraine. It’s now set to cost France around $2.2 billion in compensation for breach of contract. But that failed deal is just the tip of the iceberg.
India had initially wanted to purchase 126 new Rafale fighter jets from France, but the order was reduced to less than 40 after Defense Minister Manohar Parrika complained that the outlay for the jets, parts and decades of training and refurbishment was too expensive. It now seems that the entire deal could fail as officials from France and India squabble over the final unit price for the remaining jets, according to a Reuters report.
