Lower end I’d have HAL Mig 29’s.

HAL produced SU-30MKI´s, the Mig-29´s were built in the Soviet Union.

An odd selection of countries, particularly when China does everything now. With few exceptions, you would just run down the current and near-future PLAAF/PLANAF inventory.

Pretty much this

Now try building an air force using only the Southern Hemisphere.

Its the same thing, more limited, but a pair of calls to Embraer and Helibrás would do the trick.

Let’s not forget, in the past 5 years, UAE announced they were buying the Typhoon only to back out of contract negotiations, then entered negotiations with Dassault, all the while negotiating with Boeing on the F-18. To make the situation more muddled, they’ve been using both overt and back channel pressure to lobby for an F-35 purchase.

This entire Russia/UAE 5th generation thing does have a bit of “Deja Vu”:

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/9926/eads,-uae-develop-mako-program-(may-10).html

[ATTACH=CONFIG]251631[/ATTACH]

There are actually only two F-35 factory outside the US: one in japan and one ten kilometer northeast of my own city, no way they would allow the construction of another one.
Assembly line are used as a compensation measure for some of main partners (tier 2) of F-35 project, not a thing that can be acquired.

Japan was not a JSF program partner, the entire FACO was a direct buy through FMS.

The argument about whether NATO has a say in this acquisition is redundant.

Falcon didnt make any statement/argument about NATO “having a say in this acquisition”.

By the look of things Turkey will have one of the most impenetrable air defence systems in the region. Not only is it multi-layered it is also multi-systemed.

Quite useful

Same discussion is ongoing on russiandefence, just more serious than the usual trollfest between russianSTRONKists and ‘muricas taking place here.
A.T.M. it seem that a consensus have been reached about some points:

First one, the basic design of MiG-29/35 with 6/8 pylons on the wing, none on the engine pods and one on fuselage is an absolute no go for a 5 gen plane.

The sketch published has instead sparked mixed reactions: most criticized part were the control surfaces the canards and the conventional, tall rudders are considered a great step backward in comparison to the ones on the T-50.

Delta wings coupled with the typical russian blended wing/body, engine pods and central tunnel configuration are instead seen as the only way to get a consistent weight reduction while keeping quite large bombs bay and a good fuel fraction coupled with the lowest possible drag.

The “sketch” was Pyotr Butowski´s interpretation of how Mig 721 would look like. 721 was one of Mig designs that lost to the Sukhoi T50. Almost certainly wont have nothing to do with whatever Mig and the UAE are looking at.

Cheers

Can I use that as my signature block?

Having blocked JSR has its downsides, sometimes the level of such sheer, well… sorry mods, idiocy, is so incredibly high that the “STRONQ RUSSIA PUTIN” chap becomes quite funny!