eagle1ROUSSEFF favors France to build defense industry
Terra Noticias, Dec 15The Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, favored the strategic relationship with France to build “a true national defense industry” in Brazil, during his meeting today in Brasilia with Prime Minister Francois Fillon, who indicated his dispositión to close The association agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.
Fillon arrived yesterday in Brazil for a three-day visit with an entourage of 40 officials and businessmen and was received today by Rousseff at the Planalto Palace, where they discussed an agenda referred almost exclusively to the strategic partnership between the two countries in Defence Based on the agreement signed in 2009 for the purchase and sale of weapons by $ 12.3 million.
“The area of defense is one of the pillars of our strategic partnership, a project of great importance for the future of our countries,” said the Brazilian president, at the end of the meeting of about an hour with Fillon, said the agency DPA news.
The president stressed that his government aims to “build a true national defense industry in Brazil and partnerships with France in all sectors, should be subject to this goal.”
Thus, Rousseff winked at France, as did his predecessor, Luiz Lula Da Silva, during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to realize several operations to renew military equipment.
These operations are open bidding for the purchase of 36 fighter jets for the Brazilian Air Force, in which the Dassault Rafale of France are among the three finalists, along with two other companies in Sweden and the United States.
[…]
eagle1French air force chief confident of Rafale victory in Indian contest
Gen Jean-Paul Paloméros, chief of staff of the French air force, is confident about the Dassault Rafale’s prospects in major international competitions, and partially attributes the aircraft’s previous losses in Singapore and South Korea to politics.
“I’ve flown in the Rafale and I know what it can do,” said Paloméros, speaking to Flightglobal at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition in Malaysia late last month. “Rafale was designed since conception as a multi-role aircraft,” he added.
According to Paloméros, the Rafale is well suited to handle emerging air-to-air and air-to-ground threats in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The Rafale has very high manoueverability,” he said. “It will be getting an AESA [active electronically scanned array] radar and it has good weapons. It will also receive the MBDA Meteor air-to-air missile, offering extra range against any types of threats.”
The AESA version of the Thales RBE2 radar will be introduced into Rafale in 2013, when French forces begin receiving the fourth block of production aircraft. The Meteor is still undergoing development, but should be deployed on the Rafale after the middle of the decade.
Paloméros is confident the Rafale will emerge triumphant in India’s medium multi-role combat aircraft competition for 126 fighters, where it is on a shortlist with the Eurofighter Typhoon. Indian media reports suggest the decision is imminent, possibly before the end of 2011.
“The Indians are working on their decision,” he said. “We have close contacts with India owing to the [Dassault] Mirage 2000. They are more than happy, and are upgrading these aircraft. They know French industry very well. I’m confident in this competition. They are real experts and did a great job evaluating the aircraft.”
He added the Rafale is also well suited for Malaysia’s 18-aircraft multi-role combat aircraft competition. A Royal Malaysian Air Force team visited France this year to conduct flight trials in the type. Paloméros said although the weather was “horrible”, the visitors liked the aircraft and gained the opportunity to work with Rafale in challenging conditions.
As for the design’s failure so far to win a foreign buyer, Paloméros said: “In Singapore the Rafale was in the final selection against the Boeing F-15, as was the case in South Korea’s F-X I competition. The F-15 was a good choice for both countries, but its selection had a lot to do with politics as well.”
He said the French air force is working hard to help pin down a Rafale sale in the United Arab Emirates, which recently stunned the defence aerospace industry by issuing a request for a proposal linked to the Eurofighter Typhoon and also spoke with Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The UAE has a long-running requirement to replace 60 Mirage 2000-9s.
“We are working very hard with the UAE. They have participated in operations over Libya alongside Rafale and they know what they want. In terms of capabilities, we are in the same room. As for negotiations, we’ll see.”
eagle1interview :
Interview: C Edelstenne CEO of Dassault Aviation
Le Figaro , Dec 12[…]
[About cost]
Despite repeated criticism about its financial weight, the Rafale is the only program of this magnitude whose costs were controlled by a constant effort of the DGA and industry, despite a delay of ten years because of constraints on our public finances. In this regard, I recently read an article mentioning a slightly increase in the cost of the program when it was only a cost update in the economic value of the year. All these elements must be handled carefully to not mislead readers into error. According to the Ministry of Defence, the Rafale has remained in its original blueprint, the price range increasing only by 4.7%, while its competitors have experienced uncontrolled excesses of their costs. The British Court of Auditors, the NAO, denounced the years drift of 75% of the European EF-2000. For those who still have regrets about leaving the France of this program, it should be understood that such a choice would have increased by nearly 50% the cost to the taxpayer in relation to the Rafale. The US F-35, meanwhile, under the control of Congress for a drift of more than 77% of its costs since its launch in 2002. And development is not finished: this program is qualified besides on the other side of the Atlantic the “trillion programs “.
[…]
[About exports]
Given the operational quality of the aircraft, the commitment of the staff of our company, you will understand that my impatience to export the Rafale could be even greater than the one of the press!
[…]Just for UAE, more than 100 people from Dassault Aviation, and I do not count those of our co-operators Thales and Snecma, are mobilized in the Rafale negotiations for over two years. Do you think I would spend so much energy just to make up the numbers if I was not convinced?The effects of style about the exportability of the Rafale are ridiculous. What are we talking about? First, it’s international competition where our main competitors are American and have a mechanical bonus of competitiveness of 40% thanks the euro-dollar parity. Second, sales of combat aircraft, because they touch the heart of state sovereignty, are primarily sales where the political dimension is crucial. The United States put their political weight in the balance to prevent the export of the Rafale. They know they would mortgage the future of this industry in France and Europe. They would gain a double monopoly, military of course, but also technologic as aeronautics irrigates, the technologies it develops, entire sectors of the economy.
[…]
I also note that the press reports judicial probe in connection with sales of some of our competitors, these probe have sometimes been stopped by local authorities themselves [he’s talking of Blair about Saudi Arabia] . I want to make a point of recalling that our company, which operates in the whole world, obeys the law voted by the elected representatives of our nation.The traditional market of French combat aircraft consists of countries that do not want to buy American aircraft or countries which want a double source. Competitions were held in South Korea, Singapore and the Netherlands. In these countries, the air forces are now only equipped with American planes. These countries have always had very close ties with the United States, for geostrategic reasons with respect to Korea or Singapore. For reasons of comfort in the Netherlands, a founding member of the European Union, but a fierce supporter of the American preference for what is their combat aviation, remember the market of the century! We may have erred in taking part in these early competitions, where our chances were, from the start, rather limited. But if we did not, nobody would have understood. Each time, we eliminated the EF2000 and we ended up in short list against American planes.
[…]
[About prospects]
The 3 most advanced prospects are UAE, India and Brazil. Let’s start with the UAE. Since 2008 we are in negotiations with that country. The UAE is a client partner who has always called upon to do better. Negotiations are continuing and the company is working to develop local partnerships which should strengthen the strategic relationship between our two countries on the basis of an industrial and technological cooperation extended around the Rafale.
In India, we are in the final stages against the EF2000 of EADS. I will not comment on those negotiations, but I want to emphasize the interest of Dassault Aviation for this historic customer of the French combat aviation. We are committed to addressing the concerns of independence and sovereignty of the Indians, which want to build an industrial base already very efficient.
Finally, in Brazil, the voluntarism of the French president has allowed the Rafale to be considered at the highest level by the Brazilian authorities. President Rousseff decided to freeze the procurement process in light of the global economic situation. We expect the resume of the competition for 2012. We do of course not remain inactive and we again, because this is the ambition of the Brazilian authorities, multiplied agreements and technology partnerships with universities and industry to ensure our Brazilian officials we will fully transfer the know-how and technologies that will ensure Brazil’s sovereignty over its air force.
[…]
[About Switzerland]
The Swiss military authorities, through a rigorous process of evaluation, have acclaimed the Rafale for the adequacy of its performance taking into consideration their operational need. Moreover, the report published in the Swiss press emphasizes the preeminence of the Rafale over its two competitors. The Federal Council has announced the choice of the Gripen NG, the lowest ranked of the three planes in the running. But the choice of a fighter is always a political choice which also takes into account the quality of bilateral relations. And these, you know, are not looking good right now …
[…]
eagle1Rafale too expensive ? Welcome in bar-room talks
Secret Defense, Dec 15This is the new cliche of [french] commentators, more or less informed, more or less well-intentioned. The Rafale is too expensive, so it is not selling abroad and if France buys it anyway, that’s to please Mr. Dassault. Welcome in bar room talks!
“What is it?” As Marshal Foch said.
Yes, the Rafale is expensive. On the basis of parliamentary reports, one can estimate its price, by dividing the payments by the number of aircraft delivered in the period 2006-2011, around 116 million euros the unit.
This price is all taxes included, it integrates the 19.6% VAT. A VAT payed by the Department of Defense, but which at the end come back in the state’s pockets : for the taxpayer [ the only one that counts in the end], the net price of the Rafale should be expressed net of tax. We are therefore at a price of 94 million euros.
A recent Senate report estimates the total cost of the Rafale program for public finances to 43.567 billion euros (taking into account inflation since 1989) and that, on the basis of a planned order of 286 aircrafts . All taxes included , it is 152 million each. The difference compared to our previous calculation is due to the fact that this price includes the development of the aircraft, now paid for the current version (F3). Remains an uncertainty in this calculation: the final number of aircraft to be built. Fewer aircraft , higher price – this is the well-known principle of economies of scale. Originally, 320 Rafale should be ordered by France. Currently, the target is 286 units, but the only thing certain is that 180 were actually ordered. And there is still no export order.
But expensive ? does it mean too expensive? And too expensive compared to what? To the absence of a credible national defense? To the abandonment of one of the most successful industry in a country hit by deindustrialization? To less performant foreign competitors which would lead our country into a political dependence? […]
Overall, and it is rare enough to point out, the prices originally planned (in constant currency) were held: the court of accounts speak of a drift of 4.7%, compared to +51% for the Tigre helicopter or +29.1% for the Armoured Infantry vehicle (VBCI). As for the A400M, its price increased by 25% before the first flight … Abroad, the Eurofighter has drifted about 70% according to the NOA, the british Court of Auditors while the U.S. F-35 is a bottomless pit. The plane is still not in service and it is risky to advance a serious price. One thing is already certain: it will be the the most expensive combat aircraft program in history! The latest available data suggest a total cost of 323 billion dollars for 2443 devices only for U.S. forces (USAF, USN, USMC). (Either 101 million euros each) – knowing that development costs have exploded by 40% and the production of 60 to 90% depending on version. There is no evidence that this wild ride is over.
Yet countries comparable to France will buy it … Whatever the cost. The United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Israel, Australia, Turkey, Singapore – and maybe soon Japan will embark on this program. Contrary to the Rafale, it is not a multi-role aircraft, but an aircraft primarily designed for ground attack. Besides all the senior Air Force plans to keep, next, an air-air interceptor not necessarily cheap either as the F-22 or the Eurofighter Typhoon …
Five European countries of the Atlantic Alliance will choose the American F-35: This shows that the acquisition of a combat aircraft is above all a political choice. Sometimes the price is the issue, for example in the case of Switzerland which just prefer the Swedish Gripen . The plane is cheaper but, in fact, for good reason: it is less efficient than the Rafale. Dassault propaganda? No, estimation of the Swiss pilots themselves. But Switzerland probably did not need a plane in the range of Rafale. For its air defense, it has excellent F-18 and he had to replace only its old F-5 … a light fighter of the generation of Mirage III.
The Rafale is certainly an excellent plane – probably the best ever produced by our aviation industry in a century of existence. The hundred of aircraft delivered to date (104 exactly, 4 were lost and 10 of the first standard are mothballed in the Navy) can get to an accurate picture. The Rafale has been involved in two wars (Afghanistan and Libya) and ensures daily air defense missions (permanent Security Posture) and nuclear deterrence. Its versatility is its strength: it can carry out missions of air-air interception, reconnaissance, ground attack and strategic strikes, from the ground or from an aircraft carrier. The only comparable aircraft in the world is the F-18 E/F.
There is, in our country, a true national masochism, to denigrate our success .. It’s strange. Would we prefer to be on the side of the Eurofighter ?, a plane that costs more money to the taxpayers in the concerned countries and which is struggling to be truly operational, as the British saw in Libya (and never seen in Afghanistan .. .)? Would we prefer to buy F-35 at a completely unpredictable costs of acquisition and ownership , with the guarantee to never access the source code of the aircraft and to be always dependant of Washington (think to the Franco-American crisis in 2003)?
[…]
eagle1Then you spend your money in your country which will help to boost your economy…
eagle1I love when some are alwyays trying to turn it in a negative way…They are the first to call into question the 286 rafale objective given by official but once an official gives the smallest bit of information that could be interpreted negatively it is taken as god truth…Talk about double standard !
The MLU is schedulded somewhere between 2020-2025 so in 2030 the rafale will still be pretty capable around that date…And that doesn’t mean that nothing will move afterward if their is a new requirement from a user (french or export).
The rafale programm is quite credible when it comes to add new capabilities and to commit to objectives.
Which 4th gen airctaft will still be manufactured after 2020 ? The rafale is probably the safest bet (bare the outcome of the indian competition for the typhoon).
eagle1Misunderstanding on Rafale
Ares , Dec 09The French defense ministry has “clarified” its boss’s words and said there is no possibility that France would cancel the Rafale program.
The firm order for 180 aircraft was signed in 2009 and the target in the 2008 Defense White Paper is for 286 aircraft. Gen. Philippe Pontiès, the defense ministry spokesman, said at the weekly press briefing this morning that this meant “the French Rafale program is here for quite a time, even a very long time.”
He said the program would continue until “beyond 2020” and that given the “modernization and progressive updates of the platform, Dassault’s activities linked to the French Rafale program will last until 2030.”
Longuet’s comments in an interview on the National Assembly’s TV station LCP could be misconstrued. One of the journalists asked, “Once we have bought all the aircraft we need, will the production be stopped?” This is when Longuet said: “If Dassault does not sell the aircraft abroad, then, indeed, the production line will be stopped but the aircraft naturally will be maintained.” So, only after French needs have been met.
Longuet specified that the Rafale “is an excellent aircraft … its strength is that it is totally omnirole.” He conceded that its weakness was that it is more expensive than the “American plane whose costs are spread over much greater numbers. When we order 200 Rafales over a 10- or 15-year period, the Americans make 3,000 aircraft.”
He said contacts with India and the United Arab Emirates “who are negotiating hard” were “extremely advanced.”
eagle1They simply quoted different parts of longuet’s interview.
eagle1The way some media interpreted French MoD statements is really confusing :
Future of the Rafale: what’s new? Nothing!
Le Point , Dec 8When answering in “Questions d’infos”; the Defence Minister Gerard Longuet discussed (from the 37th minute) the situation of ‘Rafale combat aircraft produced by Dassault Aviation. He said: “If Dassault does not sell its product overseas, the chain will be stopped and the aircraft will be maintained naturally.” Partner of the show, an logically tempted to oversell it, AFP released a series of telegram transforming the banal truism in major policy statement, stating that the Minister would have “broken a taboo” or “recognized” that ” Rafale’s future depends only on french orders “. Weird interpretation of a banal statement, who certainly not deserved such noise. In short: when the plane will have no more orders, the production will be stopped. Thank you for the tip![/U]
The situation of the Rafale is now very simple, at least on paper. The 2008 White Paper states that France must have, at the end, a combat air force (air force and navy) of 300 aircraft. With mostly a single model: the Rafale. The French armies have a target of 286 Rafale, 105 have been delivered to the Air Force and Navy at the end of 2011. It will remain at 31 December 2011, 179 aircraft to produce. The Dassault assembly line books 11 aircraft/year with equipments provided by program partners (Snecma, Safran and Thales in particular) and subcontractors. So , at this point, it remains about fifteen years of production ensured for industry.
Dassault does not rely on Rafale
[…]
This is today state . A new version of the White Paper is being prepared and it is unclear how a reduction in the size of the army would not intervene again. Whatever the outcome of the next presidential election, most major equipment will be subject to review, the Rafale as the others. This case is known by industrialists, Dassault like the others. But the national aircraft manufacturer has strengths that others don’t have: Dassault Aviation is dependent of military orders for only 25% of its turnover. And from the French Ministry of Defence for only 20%. This does not prevent Charles Edelstenne, CEO of the firm, to seek to sell the Rafale with the energy of a starved, but the reality is this one: Dassault does not depend on Rafale to ensure its future.
Longuet: Rafale production “will not stop until 2030”
L’Express , Dec 7PARIS – The Defence Minister, Gerard Longuet, completed his remarks Wednesday on the Rafale, stating that “if Dassault Rafale does not sell abroad, in any event, production, intended for the French Army , will not stop until the year of 2030. “
Deliveries to armed forces will continue, very substantially, beyond 2020. Meanwhile, the aircraft will undergo upgrades between 2020 and 2030,” added the minister, to AFP. Guest on “Question d’infos” , M. Longuet had said a little earlier that “if Dassault does not sell its aircraft (Rafale) abroad, the chain will be stopped and aircraft will of course be maintained. “
He added that this would happen once the French army would have had delivery of all aircraft ordered, adding that “the spread was at least until 2018.” Then “it’s over for the manufacturer, not the user,” he noted.
eagle1December 8, 2011 .aaa.Shareemailprint.. The $22 billion (and not $10 billion, as has been reported) deal for the medium-range multi-role combat aircraft (MMCRA) could become a Bofors-like political liability for the Congress Party, if it fails to get it right. Inordinate amounts of political capital and financial resources will be invested in it, and the Indian taxpayer has the right to expect that the numerous contracts will be unlike any contracts signed by the Indian government in the past. Enough money has been spent without any enduring benefits for the people to be wary of the defence ministry’s Price Negotiation Committee (PNC) that will be talking soon with the vendors of the shortlisted aircraft — Rafale and Eurofighter. The PNCs constituted for earlier deals emptied the treasury but settled meagrely for only licensed manufacture of planes. This sort of deal will be unacceptable hereon. Especially because the high stakes for Dassault and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V.) means India can ask for anything and get it.
The trouble is the status quo serves the interests of all concerned very well. The ruling party at the Centre — the Congress Party, owing to its long years in power, has signed most of the major military deals to-date — and its leaders, invariably gain from commissions reportedly channelled their way. The IAF, which has scrupulously shied away from developing in-house aircraft design and development skills and competences, values only imported aircraft because, the service brass claim, these are top-of-the-line and reliable. Consequently, it has gone out of its way to stymie indigenous aircraft development programmes. It deliberately killed the Marut-HF-24 Mark II — successor to the Mark I version widely hailed as aerodynamically the best combat aircraft of its time. Created by Kurt Tank, the great German designer of Focke-Wulfe warplanes for the Luftwaffe in the Second World War and hired by Nehru, the HF-24 programme, had it been nursed to maturity, would have resulted in a flourishing aircraft industry in the country by the 1970s. Learning nothing from that episode, the IAF today is delaying the series production of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). This is so, notwithstanding the fact that, avionics-wise, the LCA is at the 4.5 generation level, more capable than any fighter aircraft currently in the IAF inventory.
Supposed to gain from technology transferred to it, HAL is a classic under-achiever. Restricting itself to “production engineering”, HAL’s capability has calcified at the Meccano-type skill sets-level. Meccano was a toy assembly kit available up until the Sixties for seven to 10 year olds who, following simple instructions, could screw this part on to that one and come up with a crane or some such thing! Meccano no more made the child an engineer than licence manufacturing makes HAL an aircraft design and development Company. But, dog in the manger-like, it is permitted to veto technology being transferred by foreign suppliers to private sector companies that are in far better position to speedily absorb the advanced technologies, something HAL is incapable of doing. With all the players in the game eager to retain the present arrangement, it is little wonder that India gets shafted every time. The onus is on defence minister A.K. Antony to ensure that this doesn’t happen, and to instruct the PNC accordingly.
The criteria to judge if the MMRCA deal serves the national interest will be, firstly, whether Indian industry obtains, without hitch, source codes (millions of lines of software) for every aspect of the aircraft as also comprehensive flight control laws. Secondly, the contract ensures that, as a result of the deal, India is hoisted into the cutting edge technology ranks and seeds a globally competitive aerospace industry in the country. And, lastly, India secures access to critical technology outside the combat aircraft field. Contracts will have to be so written as to index large payments against the meeting of technology transfer benchmarks, such as the full and timely delivery of the codes and the laws, and the entrenching of advanced technologies in the country.
By way of offsets, both Dassault peddling Rafale and EADS the Eurofighter, have promised to set up R&D centres here. Their research agendas will have to be competitively fixed, systems of oversight established, and the extent of Indian contributions to the ongoing production and service support of Rafale/Eurofighter for global sales and to any future manned and unmanned aircraft projects, pre-determined.
Dassault and EADS are both willing to part with single crystal blade turbine technology (which allows the aircraft engine to generate more power at higher temperatures), but collaboration in developing the follow-on ceramic turbine blade technology for even more enhanced aircraft engine performance will have to be insisted upon. Manned fighter aircraft are becoming obsolete. In order to firm up future air warfare options, direct Indian involvement in the advanced Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, being developed by Dassault in its Neuron project and EADS in its Barracuda programme, is a price both vendors would happily pay to engage India in other high-technology ventures the French company and the European consortium are exploring.
Rafale seems to have an edge, owing to its Active Electronically Scanned Array radar for air-to-air missions, whereas EADS has it only as prototype. This is fortuitous in a way because France can, as an inalienable part of the MMRCA deal, be persuaded to allow Indian nuclear weapon designers access to its Megajoule inertial confinement nuclear fusion facility near Bordeaux, to help rectify the thermonuclear weapon design that proved a dud on testing in 1998, and to work on other fusion weapon configurations. This will not obviate the need for tests in future, but inspire some confidence in the Indian strategic nuclear arsenal in the interim. Such access is a must and it can be extracted, howsoever painfully, from Paris now when it is desperate to keep a aircraft design and development capability alive in France. It is an opportunity not to be missed.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/columnists/bharat-karnad/big-deal
eagle1The NG somewhat address this shortfall even though compared to the SH and rafale it is still behind (Cf Brazil evaluation).
That being said the Gripen NG marketed range is more or less ferry range or light AtA configuration. The NG is still a small aircraft and in true operational config with AtG loads it will still be at disadvantage compared to bigger aircrafts even if the gap is less conspicuous.
My point is that the gripen is a modern fighter jet with a modern design. Its size is its best argument and biggest shortfall at the same time. Depending on the client its size can be seen as an advantage or a shortfall.
It seems very reasonable that airforces that want a modern fighter without paying too much goes for the gripen. Gripen customers are quite representative and typical in that regard. They don’t have the ambition to be major player but are looking for a modern cost effective multirole jet.
If an airforce has a focus on “pure performance” they will look preferably for bigger aircrafts like the Typhoon, rafale, SH, F35 or F15…
SAAB is almost alone on that segment of the market so the competition is less “violent” than for the high end segment of fighter jets.
eagle1Longuet: Rafale production “will not stop until 2030”
L’Express , Dec 7
PARIS – The Defence Minister, Gerard Longuet, completed his remarks Wednesday on the Rafale, stating that “if Dassault Rafale does not sell abroad, in any event, production, intended for the French Army , will not stop until the year of 2030. “
Deliveries to armed forces will continue, very substantially, beyond 2020. Meanwhile, the aircraft will undergo upgrades between 2020 and 2030,” added the minister, to AFP. Guest on “Question d’infos” , M. Longuet had said a little earlier that “if Dassault does not sell its aircraft (Rafale) abroad, the chain will be stopped and aircraft will of course be maintained. “
He added that this would happen once the French army would have had delivery of all aircraft ordered, adding that “the spread was at least until 2018.” Then “it’s over for the manufacturer, not the user,” he noted.
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/economie/longuet-reconnait-que-l-avenir-du-rafale-depend-des-seules-commandes-francaises_1058966.html?actu=1,%201
The quoted parts from scorpion are misleading. Probaly this foreign source had issue translating the actual message. The target is still 286 aircrafts and a major upgrade is still in the pipe which is reassuring. All in all even with a single customer the rafale programm remains quite “healthy” which is quite an achievement in itself when you think about it. Some competitors even with several export customers struggle to catch up in terms of development. That talks a lot of the political will behind this program. An export will be more than welcome though and will secure its future even more.
eagle1deficit : deep strike with heavy loads (cruise missiles, heavy LGBs or muli LGBs to treat a high number a hardened targets). The gripen can’t take large quantities of external fuel as soon as you start hanging weapons. Besides at a similar configuration the gripen will need to stimulate its engine much more penalizing the range.
deficit : CAS or re-task to treat time sensitive tagets due to a short persistence over the bettlefield.
deficit : CAP due to short persistence over the battlefield.
In the end its smaller size will impact on the overall effectivness to tackle the wide range of missions/situations required in such conflict. You can’t have only advantages when you are the smallest. That’s just common sense. You will lose in flexibility and comfort to realize a given mission.
eagle1Not all targets are pick up trucks…I doubt a gripen will carry 4 or 6 LGBs with significant external fuel…And even at similar load the gripen will have to fly with a higher engine regime than bigger aircraft to retain similar performance penalizing the range.
And try to fit two Taurus on a gripen…I would like to know the practical range in such configuration.
At the end of the day you will be efficient against a very small array of targets which mean than you will need either 1) a lot of tankers to refuel 2) a lot of aircrafts to perform the same task than bigger aircraft if ever number can compensate the deficit of capabilities 3) you will need a high end fighter to perform the job for more challenging missions.
eagle1Not sure the gripen is the optimal solution for such conflicts :
with a very modest range with any meaningful load like the gripen you will need to refuel much more often and you will need more airctafts (as shown in the swiss eval). I doubt that in the end it was more efficient to operate. I bet pilots would feel more comfortable in a rafale, or a SH for instance.
With a smaller aircraft you will lose on mission flexiblity and comfort.
What the article is reffering to is a cheap capability like armed drones with a great persistence, not something like the gripen.
The gripen is the ideal solution for countries that want a modern fighter jey but without the ambition of being a major player. Swiss, Thaïland, Czech, South africa, hungary are good examples.
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