I have to say I do love the F-4 but right now for me the best 3rd gen type is the Mirage F-1 MF2000 as it has M2K-5 A2A performance and Rafale A2G capability and is cheaper to operate than F-4

As said before there are a number of FAA pilots flying F-18s and Harrier in the US as for ground crews a joint RN RAF ground school will start as both services will need to train support staff on the new type both on land and at sea. As for number plates I think the first FAA unit will be something like 701 as a test and evaluation squadron which will then become 800 or 801 NAS once work up on the carriers is complete

With F35 going to Marham it means this base will become very busy over the next few years with the work down of the GR4 fleet and Marham being the last home of the GR4 also dose this mean yet another new ski jump being built at Marham I feel Wittering and Cottesmore Mix would have been better two stations close together that are empty and can be made ready for F-35 with little effort both stations have under gone a large building programs in the last five years. should have move the first F-35’s into Wittering and then as more came on line move them to Cottesmore leaving the OCU at Wittering same as Harrier

Much of what is said is right but the only two cheap light fighters on the market today are JF-17 and FA-50 both are from what many will think to be lesser back grounds and FA-50 is knocking on the lower end price tag of the much better Gripen so is only just termed cheap and most will think if I can afford FA-50 I can have Gripen. I feel if there was a truly Western truly cheap option it would sell also it is a good idea to have a cheap easy type that is easy to operate

The Malaysian air force is suffering from to many types to operate I feel they should buy 25 Gripens E/F and as a stop gap between ordering Gripen E/F and delivery lease the same number of Gripen C/D at a good rate and retire the Mig-29 – F5 – and Hawk 208 Fleets yes they will lose 10 airframes but what they lose in numbers they make up in capability this move should also see a cut in operating costs

Next they need to do the same with the trainer fleets buy 12 new LIFT jets like Yak-130 plus 35 super Tucano’s this would drop the number of type’s cross both fighter and trainer fleets

The Egyptian Air Force needs to reduce the number of types it operates in all areas. At this time they operate 5 types of combat jets I think they need to drop to 2 types three at most for me the best mix would be 180 F-16’s and 60 SU-30’s if a third type is needed then buy the 60 Mirage 2000’s from the UAE as a stop gap type.

There are 9 trainer types which need to drop to 4 50 Yak-130 100 K-8 50 Grob Tutor and 50 MFI-17

The transports are not to bad at this time possibly drop the Buffalo fleet and add more 295’s

The helicopters lose the sea kings and add 20 more Mi-17’s

This would mean the loss of 350+ airframes across the air force with the money saved the Egyptians should look at a poss Russian or Chinese 5th gen type to come on line in 2030

Where do we get a cost of 4 billion dollars for 30 F-35A + set up costs + spears when its just cost Iraq 6.5 billion dollars for 36 F-16IQ’s + set up costs and spears