Then you should attempt to explain why it still fields a monster field army with twenty thousand tanks and as many self propelled and towed artillery pieces. They simple do not require a massive air force anymore as NATO will not be able to interdict their ground movements ( in a conventional war) in any meaningful way considering the vast amount of highly mobile surface to air weapons. That being said they still have a larger front line force than anyone their likely to come up against.

Keeping it short, it doesn´t…

I think it could be still it viable and feasible to re-release an improved next-generation Northrop/Grumman F-20A/B – maybe known as the ‘F-20C/D’ Tigershark +
The improvements to the F-20C/D would include:
– a 25% increased in a wing-area
– a new multi-mode radar
– Aim-120 Amraam and Aim-132 Asraam capability
– an upgraded GE F404 turbofan

It would be affordable to both buy and operate
It has already been designed and tested in the 1980’s (save the increased wing-area)

Regards
Pioneer

After all those alterations the final product would NOT be “affordable” 😉
And it would get “smashed” in the International market by a certain Swedish car maker company 😀

There is an interesting editorial in the new Aviation Week, saying it’s time for Europe to remember its a two way street.
Specifically it takes the governments to task for building the M-400 and its problem prone late engine when there were North American items available.

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WHAT?!!

Someone at AW must be drinking something VERY alcoholic!
Europe, who has bought massive quantities of american Planes, Tanks, ships, systems, etc, when there were some very valid European products in the same class, must “remember its a two way street”!!!!!!!!!!!
Until now it has been a highway to Europe from the perspective of the American Arms Industry and a Mountain “Goat” trail in the oposite direction. Sweet Jesus, how many hundreds/thousands of Vipers and hornets have we bought?!

Since when is the EF 2000 cheaper than the F 35 ???????

Since the USAF and the US Navy put the “Unit Cost” of the F-35A/B/C in their budget´s, to be precise in the 2007 budget…
Before that, the consortium partners were being fed “********” by Lock Mart, has late as 2006 the “Unit Fly Away Cost” of the F-35A was being quoted has “36 millions US$”, right now, in the 2009 USAF budget, the same cost his “83.131 millions US$” (the same cost, for a “Tiffie” T2 his 80,7 millions US$), but this is a “Best Case Scenario” (and a bloody optimistic one), for this to happen the USAF MUST receive the entire fleet of 1763 Units, that means a production run that finishes in 2043! That also means no more delay´s, no cuts to the numbers of Lightnings II acquired, no increases in materials and manpower costs, etc, etc, etc.
If you compare the “Fly Away Costs” for the F-35A presented in the USAF Budget of 2007 to the 2009 budget, in the 2007-2013 time-frame, its simply L(fr)ightning (II), in two years the costs almost doubled…
Now, what are the chances of cuts to the Pentagon Budget in the next few years? And what his the biggest acquisition program in the Pentagon?

(F-35A Acquisition 2009 Budget)http://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080204-081.pdf

(F-35A Acquisition 2007 Budget)
http://www.saffm.hq.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-070214-050.pdf

Cheers 🙂

ps- Right now the “B” and “C” versions are already on the “100 millions US$” UFC in the “Best Case Scenario”

Pretty inaccurate observation. Most of contracts are delayed because Russians have drop down in priority interest because those were signed during low cost times. when u signed it under market rates delivery is pretty fast. look at Venzuela.
i will give Dassualt minimum 10 years time to upgrade IAF M2K. And that does not include engine upgrade or payload increase through which MIG-29SMT has to go through. Most Western manufacturer hasnt haved faced that reality. In the long run it is just money losing proposition.

There´s no comparison between the Venezuelan SU-30MK2 deal and the Indian MIG-35. The Venezuelan´s bought an aircraft that was developed a decade ago and has been delivered in great quantities to China, on the other hand the Mig-35 that was proposed to the MRCA contest, with it´s way heavier “clean weight” and profound alterations in the airframe, it´s a vastly diferent bird to any and every “Fulcrum” variant that has taken to the sky´s until now, and that includes the “K”, the “SMT”, the “M”, whatever.
Scorpion82 his correct when he say´s that there is no Production Mig-35 right now, and Scooter his completly correct when he say´s that the Eurofighter Consortium would delay the deliveries to the the four partner´s IF the Indian contest was dependent of this (actually, the British MOD would make a huge party if they could postpone the Tiffie deliveries a pair of years).

Cheers 🙂

With the Lula Government sitting in Brasilia, it doesn´t have a chance. In Denmark and Norway, specially on this last country, nothing short of a miracle will make the Super Hornet gain the contracts. In India, well, it´s a very tough competition, and the RFP date it´s not closed, no one can say who his the favorite because several of participants didn´t delivered the proposal until now…
So, it´s highly doubtfull that the SH will ever be a export success.

The Royal Australian Navy is to get three F100 AWD’s of Spanish/USA design. They are of 6’000 tonnes or thereabouts, but are to cost $8.8 billion dollars (au). I wonder how that cost would compare with the DD(X) from the US. Of 12’000 tons, it has two x 155mm guns, two helicopters, 20 x 4 PVLS,
etc., but only has a crew of 140, similar to the F100. It would be interesting to see what price the yanks have on them. Two of them would give us more firepower than 3 F100’s.

You could easily buy (and with money to spare) a 60000 ton CVF aircraft carrier with the costs of each one of those seven (two?) DDG-1000.
They are not on the same class of capabilities and cost…

I should hope so too. If the Grippen was enlarged to the size of the SH and given an extra engine it would probably outstrip the SH.

It´s called the Eurofighter Typhoon 😀

Cheers 🙂