Carryall

WOULD YOU THINK THAT A EUROPEAN FIGHTER JET..i-e..Mirage F1 prob 2000 would be a better option than the F-16

Mirage Jets are not available, otherwise India would have bought them. 😉
Maybe Gripen could be a good choice, if you look only at the airframe. Otherwise, I think used F-16 from US stocks, would be a really viable option.
The whole region flies F-16. Jordan, Egypt and the US Forces could help to train personal. It is simply the fastest road to a working system. (And most probably the cheapest way)

… and B757 fits into a hole hardly big enough to embrace a Ce172… and twin towers built with high tensile steel concrete core melt and disintegrate in 13 seconds after a plane hits them and after small fires burn for an hour… and terrorists leave all necessary documents and manuals nicely in a car on airport parking area to help out the FBI a bit..

you know, buddy, even those stories about Area 51 seem to sound more credible…

Well Flex, even terrorists are just humans.
But I think you, as well as other people could stick to the topic. And that is Israel may attack Iran with nuclear weapons.
Even if I dislike the idea of Iran having nukes, the use of tactical nukes to destroy underground facilities really scares me.
I got no clue how serious the Israelis are about that, but I’d rather see a different solution to that crisis.

The support for Hizbollah as well as the nuclear aspirations are much older than Achmadinejad’s presidentship.

We had many proposals that would allow a civil use of nuklear energy for Iran.
Nobody in the West got any interest in Iran getting the nuke. Saudi Arabia und Turkey would most probably follow. The global consequences of an nuclear exchange within the region even on a limitied scale would be horrible.
Nethertheless I tink it is not very desireble to let the Israelis take that burden alone. There needs to be an UN resolution.

Could someone point me to a press release concerning -C5 integration ? In the official press-releases I couldn’t find anything about it, while Iris-T integration for example has been well covered.
Maybe outdated:
http://www.aviationnow.com/shownews/03paris/topstor19.htm
Which nation has ordered Python IV and Asraam ? And what about the South African PGM’s ?

For Poland it was “Gripen all the way”, too…
I think many are to fixed on the aircraft performance. The question for me is, will the (much better) Gripen fit into the Croatian budget ?
Add to this, the costs for the weapons package. At least, those are military jets. I’m willing to bet, you get those MLU Vipers more or less as bonus to your US-weapons. The other way around, I see no reason why Croatia should get a favourable price for weapons, if the choose Gripen.

Personally I think they will get a nice JSF catalogue with their Viper data-sheets. You buy now.. and get in 15 years JSF financed bei FMS. Don’t know, if I could resist such an offer.

I’m comparing Gripen C with MLU Vipers because both types are on the table for Croatia.
NEW Gripens or USED Vipers. Nothing else. Therefore I don’t care for academic discussions wether Gripen Mk3 or F-16/52 is the better/cheaper aircraft.
So, what would be the better investment ?
Vipers would be the cheaper short term solution, most probably with a comprehensive weapons package.
Gripen would mean a long term solution, with superior situational awareness (TILDS), lower costs of ownership, unbeaten readiness rates and alternative sources for weaponry. Since they are newbuilt, I would suspect some kind of offset deal.
My choice would depend on the available cash and the offered weapons package.

And yes, the Czech ordered their AMRAAM’s. But till today they fly around with the scary loadout of max. 6 AIM-9.