I want the Rafale to win, then again my favoruties never make it.

whats the cheapest weapon (besides the gun) that the Rafale uses ?

Killed near Islamabad hmm says something does it not ?

plawolf made an interesting point on the PAF thread about Pakistans developing aerospace industry and how they may opt for a JV to counter future Indian fighters, may be Turkey would be interested ?

^ A couple of points — by the time all 270 MKIs and 126 MRCA’s have been delivered PAF could’ve started receiving whatever 5th gen export China has (the IAF of course would start getting FGFA/PAK FA too). They’ll still be in a massive numerical disadvantage of course, even factoring in FC-20s, JF-17 and F-16 52+s… so the best they can hope for will be to up their training and force multipliers like air refuelling, AEW, IADS (basically everything aussie digger said a few posts back).
The PAF has no hope to fight it out in a straight slug fest with the IAF simply due to numbers.

Also, if PAF is getting J-10B, then they will acquire an aircraft with all the ribbons and horns (AESA, passive detection, EW and what not) you mentioned for the Rafale/Typhoon. If China clears their newer MRAAMs and LRAAM in time for the PAF then you can tick that off on the list too…
But I think the difference at the end of the day between Rafale, Typhoon, F-16 52+, J-10B and what not are all fairly small (if we assume they all get AESAs).
With storm scalp Pakistan has their LACMs and air launched Ra’ad, AMRAAM will be competitive with meteor for the forseeable future, RCS reduction is irrelevant when hauling a weapons load… etc etc. The only real clear advantage the two eurocanards have which I see are inbuilt passive/electro optic sensors.

The MKIs would be delivered by 2015-16 MRCA may well be into the next decade. The Chinese fifth gen is supposed to be operational at the end of the decade and China has the habit of not offering the best it has. The FGFA should enter Indian service around the same time frame, hence the advantage would stay as it is.

I think Pakistans best bet would be a Sino Flanker, with their latest A2A missiles.

RCS reduction is not irrelevant because the fighter with lower RCS when clean has a lower starting point than one with a higher RCS. Pakistan being a narrow nation doesn’t help the cause either as Indian aircraft from forward bases may be able to operate without the need for EFTs.

The Proposed Chinese Silent Flanker will be an ideal counter in the short term while waiting for the Chinese fifth gen to become available for export.

I have a problem witht he above argument, an upgraded Rafale will still be competetive even in the timeframe of the AMCA/FGFA deliveries and it will probably boast higher availability rates.

Typhoon is handicapped by the AMRAAM I think. Also if Rafale is selected it should reduce the cost of the Mirage 2000 ugprade.

Ahh

Originally posted by Kovy in this very forum

or this

which one do you prefer ?