If the will and the money was there and if they followed the example of the F-117 and designed a stealth airframe and equipped it with ”off the shelf” components.

I agree. If europeans felt that they MUST have a European F35 alternative, I believe that they could do it.

The problem is that I don’t believe that Europeans believe that they need to develop their own F35.

I don’t think the will is there. I don’t think that the money is there.

I think what frustrates European fighter aviation enthusiasts is that you don’t think that the will is there either.

I think that many of your assumptions on the European ability to quickly develop stealth technology are extremely optomistic.

Great the general mold lines MIGHT be set. I’d wager that none of these mockups have had tests against full size iron bird models with doors, maintenance hatches, antenna apetures, panel joins, etc. realistically modeled. Getting those details right plays a critical role in RCS. Those details take work, and that work will take time.

I’d wager that none full size mock ups have had their RCS profiles tested on the highly sensitive RCS test facilities developed and used by the US in creating the F-117, B-2, and F/A-22. Does Europe even have those faucilities?

A lot of stealth is based on materials. Does Europe have those stealth materials ready in a box somewhere? If not, they’re going to have to develop it. If stealth materials are going to require development, how on earth are you going to design your airframe? Answer: you’re going to wait until those materials reach a certain level of maturity until you can finalize your design. That takes time.

I’m not saying that Europe can’t do stealth. I just don’t think they can whip a “ready to go version” out of a box and into production in a couple years.

Who is going to own European stealth technology? France? UK? Who is going to control that critical technology? Just getting countries to decide that is going to take time.

The US culture is one of imports. Immigrants brought it with them and continue to do so today. It’s just really mixed up now. Maybe what you don’t like about it is what you don’t like about your own culture?

As for food…I always thought pizza was an Italian import, or at least an Italian American invention. Hamburg, Germany? hamburger? Is there a connection? Should we call that Salisbury steak and blame the Brits? Hotdogs were an import by German American immigrants. They were originally german sausages given an “American” name. True, they have changed a bit over the years.

I’d say Tex/Mex food shows a strong Spanish or Latin American influence. The same could be said for the French influence in Louisiana’s cajun food. Miami and the Cuban influence. Mmm, that’s good food. The US west coast shows a strong Asian influence. Lots of really great Chinese restraunts in So. Cal.

Holidays… St. Patricks day celebrations on the east coast US is definitely something that I can credit the Irish immigrants for. The California and Southwestern US Cinco de Mayo (spelling?) can also be attributed to those of Mexican / Latin American decent.

So tell me what is it you don’t like? Don’t like McDonald’s? That was started by two brothers of Scotish decent. Curse the Germans for hamburgers and the Scotish for franchising them!

Yep, that’ll fix it.

Did China support the war?

No. Well, there is your answer for the chances of the FC-1 ending up with the New Iraqi Air Forcee.

I’d agree with Dubya. India’s Air Force purchases are pretty screwed up. How many different combat aircraft types does it operate?

The USAF has F/A-22s, F-15s, F-16s, F-117s, A-10s, B-52s, B-1s, and B-2s. That’s 8 basic combat types.

Indian AF has Jaguars, Mirage 2000s, MiG-21s, Mig-23s/Mig-27s , MiG-29s, Su-30s. That’s 6 maybe 7 basic combat types.

Their wasting a lot of money on a lot of different type that an air force of their nature doesn’t really need.

The F/A-22 is the F-15 replacement. If it’s not getting a ton of F-15 kills in evals, then there is a serious problem.

Unveilling the nEURONn Europe’s UCAV demonstrator
2005-06-13

As such, half of the tasks will be entrusted to non-French industrial partners.

That means that all other partners must share the other 50%.

Doesn’t this give France majority control over the project?

Doesn’t sound like France and Dassault have learned much since they left the Eurofighter program.

Just a few openning moves in a political power play. The Uk has probably already requested a UK production line behind closed doors. What they might REALLY be after is just a bigger chunk of the build share.

Someone from the US publicly responsds to the Brits with an extreme position just to set the ground work for negotiation. BAE will twist a few arms from someone in the UK to say something equally extreme from the UK MoD side. After that they’ll settledown to negotiate out what they really want behind closed doors.

The UK isn’t stupid. They’re only going to buy 150 planes out of thousands. The plane they’ve stated they’re going to buy is actually the highest risk part of the entire program. Where else can they go? I’m sure the MoD guys would be thrilled to hear that your only choice for the UK carrier is the Rafale or F/A-18E.

Polics as usual.