If you can get the first shots off and make the other guy turn first then you’ve just dictated the terms of an engagement. These fighters do not fly solo, they operate in groups of fours called a flight. The typical Red Flag involves a series of pitched battles that begin with 8 or more blue fighters flying line abreast to secure the air. I’m sure eight F-15’s wouldn’t like to wander into four MiG-31’s slinging long range missiles at them while a second flight of Flankers move in to engage with R77’s. The F-15’s are free to throw AIM120’s back wildly as they maneuver to survive. The MiG-31’s are free to continue slinging the R33’s while the Su-30s or Su35S’s engage at a closer range.

This is not an optimal engagement to push. At least with F-22’s the blue force has a good chance to pick off the Flankers without being themselves engaged.

Good post. By itself the Mig-31 is to much of a one trick pony against agile opponents. However if you use its best abilities in combination with the other assets the Russians has, it makes for a deadly cocktail. Even deadlier when the T-50 enters service. I wager, even the F-22 will have its hands full with that one.

This is Airbus breaking the door in on a market Boeing has dominated utterly for more than 60 years. Massive blow is entirely appropriate.

Did not say that USA needs the Gripen. But most of its allies, in reality, needs a fighter of similar capability.

On the other hand, you can use the same tooling, and retraining ground and air crew is far more cost effective and easy.

For an interim solution, this is far more important.

You forget that Sweden is the only nordic country that has the know how to build a fighter jet of any generation.

I find it unlikely that Denmark and Norway are willing to fund that.

Besides, it will take a decade to develop it. I think the need is more urgent than that.

At the first of …..

Paper thin weight margins…. and no one has published an operational empty weight for each variant.

So now you can dismiss anyone raising weight issues, right up to service introduction.

Clever.

Jamming yeah ofc. Its more the landing in such good shape that I find shocking.

Yes, but remember that quite a few prominent members of this board made an absolute ridicule of the T-50 as a paper plane, right up to the day we got the photos.

The T-50 is a high profile product from a well known manufacturer, but what do we know about the goings on in Iran ? It has ben written of as rubbish, but do we actually know ?