Well the Mig 29 + NLCA are for the Gorshkov and the IAC 1 which is STOBAR and due to be commissioned in 2014 timeframe. IAC – 2 is supposedly going to be CATOBAR and the IN requires new birds to operate from there.And maybe some F 35 Bs to operate from the STOBAR carrier later?

Steel cutting for IAC-2 will most likely start after Navy has gained some experience on STOBAR carriers. Even if we assume 2014-15 period for initiation of steel cutting, considering the IAC-1 speed of construction, increased complexity and larger size of the CATOBAR ship, the ship will most likely hit water by 2023 and be ready for induction at 2025. By 2025, IN will have the option of choosing AMCA (if its ready) or naval PAK-FA (if its ready) for induction. Hence i consider naval MMRCA to be highly unlikely.

Wasn’t one of the biggest reason SK went for eagle was because the engines were interchangeable with f-16’s ? Why not order more f-15k ? French aren’t gonna compete this time around, and F-35 may not be ready on time. If ToT is what they are looking like, as in MMRCA, Typhoon is the way to go, especially since KF-X is meant to be developed pretty much on the same lines, but if logistics is what they are thinking, then more f-15k.

No high ticket items. The NATO countries will use their privileged position in Libya, their relationship to the rebs, to get weapons deals that are to their liking. Libya’s future combat jets, ships, and armored vehicles will, in all likelihood, be Western types.

If they buy new it will be the Rafale or the Eurofighter, if used it will most likely be something French.

Afghanistan is buying Russian choppers. Iraq is buying czech trainers and putting off F-16 purchase indefinitely as they need money for nation building (they did buy M1A1’s though), and when they will have money, it would be far less to buy western equipment in sufficient numbers. Russian and Chinese equipment comes cheap, and if you don’t lash out brutal training and hours like NATO does, then they also cost cheaper to maintain…. and they come without strings, are good enough for airspace patrolling and giving an occasional scare to their neighbors.

Western victory does not ensure sale of western equipment, unless significant pressure is put on the defeated nations. A decade down the line the new regime will try to maintain a healthy distance from the “agressors” in order to look neutral to their home crowds, that is when the Russians and now the Chinese too will make their sales pitch.

Reported cost for 36 J-10 was about 1.4 billion USD but not much details are available and there is little chance of that happening unless government seriously decides to discuss all the major arm purchase in parliament (so far only Senate Standing Committee on Defence and federal cabinet discusses and approves these purchases)

Package for 36 New F-16 Block 52M was worth $3 billion.

Those f-16s seem darn expensive. 83.33 mil for each f-16 ? Lockheed promised f-35 at that price :p How much does zardari make off each one of them 😀

Smart air force would never reveal their best hand. The Indians easily beat the U.S. in COPE India 2004, but at the same time they reveal their clever tactics and combat radar emission characteristics. They realized they made a mistake in doing so, and in following exercises they set their Su radars/avionics to “Training Mode”, and use very basic tactics. It’s better to “lose” then reveal your military secrets.

In Cope India – 04 Indians did not use Mki’s, they used MK’s which did not have the lastest Bars.

I think that credit financing will be China for the purchase of the J-10 and if i remember correctly Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed said that he is holding some funds back from the F-16s (by not going for option of 18 block 52+ F-16s)for the Purchase of J-10 and total requirement for high tech aircraft is 150 (F-16 + FC-20)

So they are hoping to get at least a squadron of J-10s with support structure, logistics and training at the cost of a squadron of f-16s ? J-10s need to be ridiculously cheap for that.

now that’s just trolling!!

Again your making claims, you say that it has mistakes with regards to aerodynamics, but it is generally known to have fantastic performance and handling abilities, ok the rafale may or may not be a little bit more agile at very slow speeds but the typhoon is superior higher up, so does that mean that the rafales aerodynamics are floored or that they were designed for different purposes?

Some posters will never call typhoon a POS directly, for them its just an overpriced souped up M2k in terms of aerodynamics (or in other words what the french managed to do 35 years back, and rest of europe is catching up). They will say that Typhoon may be better at A2A, but still Rafale will still see it first (because typhoon has a “large” RCS) and the large CAPTOR AESA will not matter against Rafale because it has an RCS 1/20th that of M2K, and no matter whatever Klingon technology rest of europe puts in their radar, Rafale will always be one step ahead.

They are the kind of trolls even the french trolls will warn you about 😀

This seems almost unbelievably fast. The MMRCA might then be decided earlier than the EAU contract and the brazilian FX program… who’d have thought that a year ago ?

None of them are currently in a flashpan like situation. December seems awfully late for MMRCA deal, it may be the timeline for “formal” signing of the deal, the winner may be announced sooner.