Now it is like the year of 1979 for EF-2000 and Rafale. Let’s hope the real Anglo/French product will be able to come out 20 years later…….

1. The begining of IDF program: 1981.

2. First prototype out of factory: 1988.

3. Maiden Flight: 1989/05/28.

4. Begining of Pre-production: 1992.

5. Begining of full-production: 1993~1994.

6. Entering service of the first sqn: 1994, Jan.

7. End of production: 1999.

8. Productional numbers: 4 prototypes, 10 pre-productional planes, and 121 productional planes.

9. Delievering schedule:
1992: 4 planes (pre-production).
1993: 6 planes (pre-production).
1994: 24 planes.
1995: 24 planes.
1996: 12 planes.
1997: 16 planes.
1998: 24 planes.
1999: 21 planes.
In total: 131 planes (103 single seated and 28 double seated).

The goal for ROCAF to introduce F-16C/D is:

(1) Replacing the old and fatigue (whose daily upper operating G-limit has been reduced to 4.0G only ) F-5 ASAP.

(2) Replacing the Mirage 2000-5 with worse and worse logistics after 2020.

Replacing F-CK-1 is not the most urgent topic for ROCAF now, especially when the MLU work of the F-CK-1 is the most easy one among the four kinds of fighter it has.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/136999/foc-for-india%E2%80%99s-tejas-fighter-slides-to-2015.html

Tejas Fighter Jet Won’t Be Combat-Ready Before 2015

(Source: India Times; published July 18, 2012)

The latest assessment of Tejas, which has now clocked close to 2,000 flights in its almost three-decade-long developmental saga, holds the lightweight fighter will be capable of firing guns, rockets and BVR (beyond visual range) missiles as well as air-to-air refuelling only by 2015 at the earliest, say defence ministry sources.

That is when the single-engine Tejas will become fully combat-ready after getting the final operational clearance (FOC). The review suggests that the fighter is again headed to miss a deadline in its convoluted tale that began in 1983 as an endeavour to replace the ageing MiG-21s.

So far, Tejas has achieved only initial operational clearance-I (IOC-I) to certify it’s airworthiness. “The IOC-II for the fighter, which also includes integration of some weapons like laser-guided bombs, was pushed back to December 2012. But now, it will only be possible by July, 2013, or so after over 200 more sorties. FOC will come only two years after that,” said a source.

India will eventually spend over Rs 25,000 crore in the entire Tejas programme, including the naval variant and trainer as well as the failed Kaveri engine, as earlier reported by TOI.

The number of fighter squadrons in IAF will further dip to 31 over the next three to four years with phasing out of the aging MiG variants, further impacting IAF’s combat capabilities, before it slowly begins to pick up with new inductions. Projections show IAF will have the required 45 squadrons only by 2032.

How many Rafale-M are now left in service after the recent crash and do they plan to induct more?

I’d asked an earlier question regarding spectra suite. Does it belong to the systems allowed for export under ToT and will it be included as part of ToT with the MMRCA?

1. Around 38 Rafale M have been built up to now.

2. Four of them have been crashed (M22, M24, M25, and M28) since 2009.

3. Ten of them (M1 to M10, Rafale M F1 configuration) are under storage and waiting for upgrading.

4. So, I think around 24 Rafale M are now left in service after the recent crash of Rafale M24…..

5. French Navy prepares to procure 60 Rafale M in total, wheras 48 of them have been in the confirmatory order.

6. In the next five years, French Navy shall get ten more newly built Rafale M, and ten upgraded Rafale M from the original Rafale M F1 configuration.

I wonder what kind(s) of A2A stimulation(s) had been done during the dogfighting exercise between USAF F-22A and GAF EF-2000 ??

M61A2 versus BK27 ?

AIM-9M versus AIM-9M ?

AIM-9M versus IRIS-T ?

If a fighter’s pilot has no other choice but dogfighting with a best class of enemy fighter, then “Slicked off as much as possible” shall be the most reasonable operational configuration for his/her fighter to do this job. It is simply ridiculous to let a Typhoon with full load of external AAMs and fuel tank(s) to dogfight with other first class of enemy fighters (F-22, Su-35, Rafale etc.) in the real war scenario, and vice versa.

There is also no evidence that USAF’s F-22A was in a standard operational configuration when dogfighting with Germany Typhoon during the exercise. And I guess the USAF F-22A did not carry its own 600 gallon external fuel tank(s) when dogfighting with Germany Typhoon, either. Right?

A piece of cake that should be ready several years ago, but it wasn’t.

And the potential foreign customers now still get no clue for just when this god damn piece of cake can be ready……