Dassault Aviation says supply chain issues weigh on production

By Lina Golovnya

(Reuters) -Rafale fighter jet maker Dassault Aviation on Thursday said supply chain issues had deteriorated further since last year and made it more difficult to process its orders.

"This situation has an impact on the development and production of our aircraft, while we need to ramp up to meet our commitments," it said in a statement.

While the French group said it did not receive new orders for Rafale jets in the first half year, India's defence ministry gave initial approval to purchase 26 of these fighter jets just last week.

Dassault's order backlog stood at 34.42 billion euros ($38.31 billion) per end-June and included 160 Rafale warplanes and 90 Falcon business jets, the group said.

New orders in the first half year reached 1.68 billion euros ($1.87 billion) for twelve Falcon business jets. Last year, that number stood at 16.29 billion euros and included 80 Rafales.

Chief Executive Éric Trappier said the Rafale success continued to generate new prospects from abroad, adding that India's plan to equip the Indian Navy with these jets "illustrates this".

The group said its adjusted operating income for the January-June period fell 24.5% to 151 million euros and adjusted net sales decreased 25.8% to 2.30 billion euros.

($1 = 0.8984 euros)

(Reporting by Lina Golovnya, editing by Kirsti Knolle)