IPA8 would be the second asset with an AESA and also a twinseat. However, the aircraft currently unavailable and is at a “Frankenstein” configuration with P1Ea and the Captor-E. You are certainly better served with mature operational assets at P3Ea standard and that’s what the RAF has deployed to Switzerland. Forget about one of them being equipped with an AESA. It’s not plug & play.

Thanks for the update

Tranche 3?

And does that mean no AESA radar demonstrated either? Isn’t there a company demonstrator with the Captor AESA that could be used for radar trials?

The radar demonstrator is IPA5, a British Phoon that has been flying with the set AESA for almost three years, the two Phoons belong to Nº41 Sqn, the RAF Phoon test and evaluation unit, they are indeed T3´s and i wouldnt be too surprised to discover that in the nose of at least one of them there was something else that was not a M Captor.

And other thing…EF is expensive than F-35A. So, When you tell, that Spain can not buy F-35A because is expensive it does not have any sense to buy more expensive EF tranche 3. .

Pick the costs of acquiring some fourty Eurofighter T3´s, for the Esercito (or the Luftwaffe) then multiply by two… or three. That would be the cost of implementing an entirely new aircraft into their fleet. The Phoon is already the backbone of their fleets, the suport, training, logistics are already in place.

About what is talking Urcelay is about to buy F-35A around middle of next century when the last F-18 will need replacement, not now.

The possible acquisition of F-35A´s by the Ejercito Del Aire “around middle of next century” looks very much dead.
Unless a) Airbus gets out of Spain or b) the SCAF program crashes and burns or c) an entirely new Spanish Government makes a very radical U turn, the Spanish Air Force wont see Dave A in their colours.
The Navy is trying to maintain some sort of hope for their fighter force, good luck, they are going to need it.

Exactly what I said, the gross weapon system costs were are similar through 2024. That measurement does not favor the procurement of the F-15EX. That means, even thought the F-15EX can leverage the 90% commonality of the spares and existing equipment of the F-15E (and “c”) to a lesser extent,
it is scarcely “cheaper” than a new aircraft that is still developing a spares/maintenance pipeline. An aircraft for which support equipment, software, procedures are still being purchased and developed.

No they are not. You have the exact numbers right in front of you, they are not similar.
The first batch of eight F-15EX has a bigger Weapon System Unit Cost, all the other four batches have a lower cost, exactly what i´ve written before.
And for all the “new aircraft that is still developing” talk, the first one was delivered almost a decade ago, there are around three hundred and fifty with a multitude of operators now and the F-15EX is a vastly heavier and bigger aircraft. If somehow LM and JPO IN 2024 cant bring the cost of the F-35A, building north of a hundred of the thing a year, to something obviously lower than to a five decades older much bigger airframe built at boutique numbers, than it certainly doesnt look good for the JSF program.

Wrong Spud, the INITIAL batch of eight F-15X is indeed thirty millions more expensive, all the follow on batches are less expensive…

Trimble’s Twitter- thanks BiO. His Dewline blog @ flightglobal was one of the best. He’s moved on to greener pastures at AW&ST as editor. Superb defense reporter.

Also from feed:

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So much for no conflict of interest.

Must admit that i am waiting for the 2020 budget documents a bit more eagerly than usual…

De escalating, excellent.
Good job by Imran Khan, good voyage home to Commander Abhinandan (give the man some vacations, he deserves it), and fingers crossed for this incident to end here.