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Yves Robins, Dassault Aviation senior vice-president of EU and NATO affairs, says he believes the federal government should open the process to other bidders. Mr. Robins said Dassault has been asked by Ottawa to provide it with some information on the Rafale for a risk-assessment study to determine whether there are other options than the F-35 to replace the F-18s.

“We believe that Rafale is an aircraft that meets all the Canadian requirements, and in some cases, exceeds them,” Mr. Robins said.

“We are not in a competition yet. But we think it may be valuable for the Canadian economy and the Canadian defence to open a competition, and we would welcome it,” he said.

The Government of India recently embarked on negotiations with Dassault in a deal valued at $15-billion for 108 of the Rafale twin-engine fight jets, and Mr. Robins said he would like to see Canada open up its own competition as well. He said he has seen all the mission requirements defined by the Canadian Forces.

“The Rafale meets all of them,” he said. “It also has the big advantage of the Rafale already [being] there. It is existing, and it’s a risk-free program at a fair price.”

He said the order could be filled very quickly with the average production time for the plane about three years from the time of contract start to delivery.