Taiwan’s air force was doomed when Taiwanese government decided to stop purchasing new Ching Kuos when F-16 A/Bs became available. Had Taiwan continued to fund the Ching Kuo program and bought 300 units in several blocks, then they would not be in such a dire situation that they are today.

I don’t think that will make any difference.

The problem that Taiwan faces today is that National Health Insurance and Social welfare system have sucked up too much money and sources, leaving almost nothing for renewing and further developing national defense.

When Taiwan started F-CK-1 project in 1980s, we had no National Health Insurance, and the annual budget for social welfare was less than the half of the annual budget for national defense.

Today, our annual budget for social welfare is near 120% of the annual budget for national defense, and the annual cost for National Health Insurance is near 170% of the annual budget for national defense ~ The money and sources that might be used for developing national defense in the past have all gone to the black holes of social welfare and National Health Insurance now.

In 2009 it was a Jean-Michel Guhl article about rafale , and the range of present RBE-2 PESA radar :

“The present radar air-to-air modes include long-range search; multi target track and engagement; air combat modes; Non-Cooperative Target Recognition (NCTR); and look down/shoot down functions. In air-to-air mode, the RBE2 gives a tracking range beyond 60 nautical miles against a 30-square-foot target, with detection ranges up to 75 nautical miles. The radar can track and prioritize up to 40 targets simultaneously and engage up to eight with Mica, and soon Meteor, air-to-air missiles. “

So the range for 3 sq m should be 75nm (139km) -detection , and beyond 60nm (111km) tracking range.
Of course real data are classified , but I think that this is the most detailed info about the Rbe-2 range in the public. And 200km for 3 sq m detection range for AESA RBE-2 is quite possible.

So,

If the effective range of RBE-2 AESA is 40% more than RBE-2 PESA, then it shall be able to detect the RCS = 3 m2 target at the range of near 200 km, and tracking it at the range of near 160 km.

And if the effective range of RBE-2 AESA is double of RBE-2 PESA, then it shall be able to detect the RCS = 1 m2 target at the range of more than 210 km, and tracking it at the range of more than 168 km.

France is a reliable and flexible military equipments’ supporter, until it believes that it can get much more benefits from being loyal to your enemy.

Remember Mirage 5 ? A fighter that had been originally developed for the specific requirement of Israel airforce, but it was finally sold to several Arabian air forces with hundreds of units, and was then used to bomb against Israel during the yom kippur war of 1973.

So it is we Taiwanese’s fault, who told we didn’t take the lesson of history when we decided to buy French ? And may God bless India and other foreign customers of French military equipments, so that they will never have to face the music that Israel faced in 1968, Argentina in 1982, and Taiwan nowadays…..

If French AF had decided to buy Mirage 4000 during 1980s, it would still need to prepare its successor at the beginning of 21th century.

However, since the procuring and operating costs of Mirage 4000 should be much more expensive than Mirage 2000, I think French MoD would have no enough money for developing and buying Rafale on its own, and then the successor of Mirage 4000 shall be Eurofighter, F/A-18E/F, or even F-35…….

This is true toan. I am obviously tying CFT to Stormshadow because of the way it interacts with Typhoon’s fuel carrying capacity, but you are right.

Another good and practical choice I think for this problem:

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/137617/jassm_er-nears-operational-employment.html

JASSM-ER:

1. It will be ready to enter service next year (2013), so RAF shall have plenty of time to integrate it onto EF-2000 before 2019.

2. It is compact and light enough for F-15 and F-16 to carry it, so EF-2000 shall has very little or no problem to carry it.

3. It has the effective range of 500 NM class (925 km), which shall be able to reduce the fuel requirement of Typhoon greatly in many A2G missions.

4. With the help of specialized warhead (HPM warhead etc.), it shall be able to become a very useful and effective ultra-long range SEAD/DEAD weapon for an unstealthy fighter to fight against the enemy’s modern long range SAM system.

5. It shall be a cheaper and quicker choice than developing a new derivative of Storm Shadow with increasing range.

I
a) Develop new missile.
b) Integrate HARM on Typhoon
c) Adopt SAGEM AASM Hammer, its already being integrated on Saudi Typhoon and the French use it in the SEAD role.
d) Accept capability holiday and then adopt the AGM-88E Advanced Anti Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) on the F35B.

Choice A:
No enough time to be ready at the time of retirement of Tornado GR4 and ALARM.

Choice B:
Why retiring ALARM and then integrating a less capable missile on Typhoon?

Choice C:
No enough range for an unstealthy fighter to fight against any modern SAM system with the effective range of more than 70 km.

Choice D:
I love holiday!!!!:D

Well, if RAF really decides to retire Tornado GR4 at the time of 2019, then it must need a platform that is able to carry Storm Shadow / Brimestone and to do the job of SEAD/DEAD at that time.

And since the FOC of F-35B won’t be ready until post-2020 or even post-2025, I think Typhoon + AESA radar with electronic attacking capability shall be the only possible and practical choice to be ready to do these jobs at the time of 2019.