Here are a few BAF birds, A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29, Nanchang A-5, Chengdu F-7M and Guizhou FT-7. I dont have my photo collection with me at the moment but I seem to remember having gotten ahold of better prints of some of these images if anybody is interested…

so they should go in for MiG-29 from the VVS stock but are they not a NATO member now?

Yes Bulgaria is a NATO member. I suppose Bulgaria will upgrade the existing inventory rather than buy new. The MiG-29 Sniper upgrade looks kind of nice and the Romanian experience with the Lancer has been mostly positive so that is an option as well although there is no guarantee Bulgaria will do business with EADS/Aerostar/Elta. Another option I suppose is that they might reconsider second-hand F-16s. There is also a number of very interesting Projects for making Mil-24/35s and Mil-17s NATO compliant.

Firstly I have to agree on the point of satlite surveilance but not the lack of or abundance of recce aircraft on either side.

The point was really simple, the British had reconnaissance, both aircraft (limited) and satelite the Argentines essentially had neither. It seems to me that translates into a British advantage.

The second point I would like to make is that the people who regarded the Argentine forces the most were the British who faced them. So if you are thinking that I am criticising them I have to tell you that you are wrong.

That is very true, the people derating the Argentines are usually also people who did not serve over there. I have never heard British Falklands veterans speak badly of the Argentines, quite the contrary. It is simply that I all to often come across people who speak of the British victory in the Falklands like a foregone conclusion. Which is irritating since high ranking officers of the British armed forces are on record as saying it was a quite close call and both sides admit underestimating each other.

I have to ask who is criticising them and what lack of forward base? They had the Falklands and they had an upgradeable airstrip at Stanley and they did not do anything really worth while with it. Their mistake.

I was referring to the Argentine Mirage pilots, not the Argentine high command. The faliure to extend Port Stanley was a Royal Screwup that is directly attributable to the Argentine generals who planned the Falklands invasion. It was a pretty obvious thing to do and it surprised most observers when it wasnt done. I don’t see how this cockup was the Fault of the Argentine Mirage III pilots?!?! It still left the Argentine Pilots with no forward Base and that was hardly their fault. I don’t think RAF/RNAS pilots could have done much better if they had been sitting in the cockpits of those Mirages operating from a base 380 plus nautical miles away with five minutes to spend over the target and no precise information about the location of the enemy carrier group.

My point again is I am not criticising Argentina but when these discussions come up Britian always gets criticised. It is said they only won because Argentina was at a disadvantage. Well the British had disadvantages of their own that are handily overlooked but I don’t hear anybody say ‘oh those poor British lads how they fought and died’. No. All you here about is the poor Argentine lads who fought and died and suffered as if the Brits were some kind of evil oppressor and those Brits who died and suffered deserved it as if their lives are somehow less important.

From my point of view British lives are just as important as any other human beings lives are. If I gave the impression of believing otherwise I apologize. The Falklands war was one of those festerning wounds left over from a time when empires were being built and greatness was measured in territory. It is a tragedy that good men, be they British or Argentines, had to die as late as the 20th century because of the consequences of 19th century power politics.

Could it be that India would call some Su-30s for help, then? But I agree, the ROSE Mirages are of much better standard than the Argentinian ones once were, the FRS Mk.51 would have had much harder times than back in 1982.

Not only that, but the Argentine Mirages were also operating at the extreme limit of their range, had no in flight refuelling capability and did not benefit from adequate reconnaissance or radar cover much of the time, the Daggers at least had inadequate navigation equipment and any use of afterburners by the Mirage III’s when tangling with the Sea Harriers would have left them running out of fuel on the return journey. Things would have been alot harder for the Royal Navy even if the Argentines had only taken the trouble to included an extra ship in the inital invasion fleet carrying a battalion of engineers with heavy construction gear to extend the runway at Port Stanley. This would have allowed the forward deployment of Mirages, the maintenance of a CAP over the area, it would have shortened response times from hours to minutes and allowed the Mirages to make full use of their supeiror speed.

As you pointed out the ROSE Mirages are much better equipped and in this scenario would have much better navigation gear and radars (and BVR capablity?), cover by F-16’s and in the fullness of time F-10’s packing SD-10 missiles as well (If this months AFM can be believed :D) Also let’s not forget the Erieye which looks set to go online with the PAF (barring any hickups in Pakistan’s relations with Sweden) and wich will improve the PAF’s situational awareness no end. The only limitation is that the PAF has not yet found an adequate solution for in flight refuelling. But even without that capability and if we assume the Indian carrier is being covered by Su-30’s it would not be a milk run for the Indians to tangle with the PAF as it will look by, say… 2010 or there abouts.

… Any rational business-oriented firm, like those in the West, would never put out one product which would undercut the another like CAC is doing with the MF in regards to FC-1.

Those words sum up my sentiments toward the F-7MF pretty exactly :D. It makes no business sense to prolong the agony with the J/F-7 series by producing the MF when it fills the same market niche as a very low-end FC-1 which is a much superior product with much greater long-term development potential.

Why does the PAF need permission to upgrade their F-16As ? After all who embargoed the additioanal planes in the first place,

I think SD-10/F-16 marriage plus avionic upgrades will extend the life of the aging fighters till a newer type such as J-10 can be procure.

I read somewhere that he Egyptian air force got its F-16’s along with a book containing exact guidelines about who was allowed to open which access panels and which parts on the aircraft EAF mechanics are even allowed to touch. I rather doubt an SD-10/F-16 marriage is an economically viable proposition. It would be a better policy for the PAF to try to get export models of the J-10 and load it up with European weapons and electronics. The fascination of the F-16 is mainly that it would be mostly paid for by the US taxpayer. If it wasn’t for that I doubt even that any technological edge the F-16 may have over the J-10 would be worth the Political baggage that comes along with US equipment.

It never ceases to amaze me that in this overblown and over heated debate about the Eurofighters percieved shortcomings all sorts of people (i.e. irresponsible journalists and politicians) make all sorts of comments about the Eurofighters uselessness but nobody seems to take the time to ask the guys who have actually flown it what they think. I read that interview, linked to by a previous poster, with an Austrian Typhoon pilot. He completely dismisses any critics of the Eurofighter. Here some highlights, in English, for any non-believers 😀

…. Somebody claimed the Jet could not be flown under frosty conditions. We flew the aircraft on a typical January day. We had clear but cold weather but that did not crash the aircraft. The aircraft is more than airworthy and impressed me as a pilot …. We tested the aircraft up to a load of 9G, took it to its aerodynamic limitations, to the point where the computer intervenes. All system functioned perfectly. I have flown all sorts of aircraft including the F-16, F-18 the Swedish Gripen and others. The rate of acceleration of the Eurofighter is without comparisons. This aircraft literally flies away from under your backside and leaves you sitting.

I think the actual aircraft in the photo actually a Chinese air force plane…

Which is why I’d like to get my paws on the original unmodded picture of this bird in PLAAF markings. Pictures of PLAAF J-7IIA (probably aka. J-7M) fighters are almost as rare as those of Mynanmar AF F-7’s. I don’t think the PLAAF operates alot of J-7IIA’s. All of the ones I have seen carried the bort numbers of training or test units.

And thank you for posting that picture.

No problem.