Italian Interim Fighter.

Hi guys. Last year I posted a thread regarding the Italian requirement for the interim fighter. I´ve retrieved it from the Archive. I reprinted it here. It looks like the F16 will get the nod(which I predicted). The Italians will probably sign up for the ADF sometime in the next 4 weeks.

The AMI currently has a fleet of F104 and Panavia ADVs(about 72 airframes in total). The ADV was ordered in the early 90´s with a view to operating them until the delivery of the Typhoon(then slated for 2000). The first Typhoon deliveries are now expected in 2005(which may or may not be optimistic). The above-mentioned fleet of 72 planes(F104 and ADV) currently has an availability of around 33%-about 24 aircraft. The Italians have concluded that this is the bare minimum required to secure their own airspace.
The AMI RfP is based on this number (24 planes). The RfP is interesting in that the AMI doesn´t intend to purchase the aircraft outright but instead lease them.It lays out total annual flying hours peaking at 8000 for the proposed fleet and here´s the interesting bit- the selected manufacturer must guarantee that irrespective of how many planes are included in the deal, 24 must always be available, distributed among 3 airbases-a single home base and 2 detachments. The main reason for the pay by the hour scheme is that the AMI envisages scrapping the F104/ADV fleet and using the funds allocated yearly for the F104/ADV operations (around 85 million dollars)to pay for whatever is selected and it wouldn´t endanger the Typhoon purchase. Thus, the AMI can have it´s cake and eat it too.
The applicants are as follows:
F16 ADF- the yanks reckon that 30 single seaters,4 two seaters and 4 airframes (to be cannibalised) will guarantee an operational availability of 24 planes. Advantages of the F16 offer is the AIM120, AIM 9 missile fit already in use by the AMI. A disadvantage is Air to Air refuelling.
Mirage 2000-5- Dassault is confident that 28 Dash 5´s will guarantee 24 available around the clock. Advantages are the new airframe, advanced avionics and Air to Air refuelling. Disadvantages are the MICA/Magic missile fit, currently not supported by the AMI. The French offer won´t be much more costly than the F16 offer. The Italians reportedly like the Dash 5 very much, though that doesn´t mean much neccessarily.
MiG 29- these would be the 23 that the Luftwaffe still has and an extra 12 planes which would guarantee the required 24. Advantage is the pure flight performance. Disadvantages are numerous.
ADV- the Brits are reportedly making an extremely attractive offer-they´ll probably be glad to be rid of the