BAE submits formal bid to supply Typhoons to UAE

Britain’s BAE has submitted a formal bid to supply 60 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to the UAE, which has been looking to upgrade its fleet for many years, according to BAE house broker UBS. France’s Dassault Aviation is competing for the contract: a deal to buy Dassault’s Rafale has been mooted since at least 2009, and seemed close at times. Rivalry for the lucrative contract, expected to be worth between $8bn and $11bn, has drawn in senior politicians, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, who travelled to the UAE in November 2012 to mend a relationship which had been bruised by western criticism of UAE human rights abuses.