The contract for Ukraine's planned purchase of 16 Rafale fighter jets has not yet been signed, and its terms and financing mechanism still require final approval by the French government.

According to Ukrinform, citing Le Figaro, Éric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, made the announcement while presenting the company's financial results for the first half of the year.

"Ukraine has expressed its intention to purchase 16 Rafales, but the contract has not been signed. The French government must still finalize both the agreement and its financing," Trappier said.

Ukraine and France previously announced a project to acquire an initial batch of 16 Rafale fighters as part of a broader effort to build Ukraine's future combat aviation fleet.

Trappier said Dassault Aviation is continuing negotiations with other potential customers. In particular, the company hopes that India, which plans to purchase 114 Rafale aircraft, will sign a contract before the end of the year.

"We continue our international campaigns because several countries are interested in the Rafale and are also requesting information about the aircraft's new F5 standard," he said.

During the first six months of the year, Dassault delivered 12 Rafale fighters—ten to foreign customers and two to the French Armed Forces. During the same period in 2025, the company delivered seven aircraft, four of them for export.

However, Dassault Aviation received no new firm Rafale orders during the first half of 2026.

As of the end of June, the company's order backlog totaled €45.36 billion, including 208 Rafale aircraft—165 for international customers and 43 for France.

Dassault is also developing the future Rafale F5 standard, expected around 2035, along with a large combat drone designed to operate alongside the fighter.

The Rafale F5 is expected to feature a more powerful T-Rex engine, a new radar, collaborative combat capabilities, artificial intelligence technologies, and new weapon systems.

During the presentation, Trappier also confirmed the final end of French-German cooperation on the Next Generation Fighter (NGF), the key component of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS/SCAF) program.

"It's all over. It's behind us now," he said, adding that the legal termination of the program had been agreed and formally completed several days earlier.

As Ukrinform previously reported, on July 13, French President Emmanuel Macron, following a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" in Paris, announced the project to supply Ukraine with 16 Rafale fighter jets and their associated weapons. According to Macron, the first aircraft are expected to enter Ukrainian service in 2028–2029, while training of Ukrainian pilots and technical personnel will begin in the coming months.

Illustrative photo: defenseimagery.mil