Yes, I was aware that it was for the MMRCA competition. Re multi-role capability, I understood the Rafale to be quite good (at least equal to its competitors) in this respect - remembering that it has made it to the 'final round' for both the earlier South Korean and Singaporean contests. I would also imagine that Dassault/France would be quite enthusiastic (desperate seemed like too strong a word :

) to get an export order and thus would have made an extremely attractive offer in terms of offset/technology transfer.
I wonder if the Rafale's no-show at AeroIndia 2009 was because they already knew of this decision or whether it even damaged their case (it shouldn't have, but stranger things have happened).
I also wonder if the fact that it isn't used by anyone else but the French was viewed as a limitation?
A former ACM just before retirement had remarked that it is what goes into an aircraft that they are more concerned with rather than what it can do aerodynamically.
As it should be. If the focus is on equipment (primarily sensor suite I would imagine), then the F/A-18E/F would have to stand out from the others with its radar.
Either way, it will be interesting to see what happens next with this competition.
Regards,
Greg