Is this USAF assets only? Because the ANG operates a fair share of the F-16’s and F-15’s…

J-10 is a half Flanker at best (75% of the MiG-29)
MiG-29 is a two-thirds Flanker at best. (33% better than J-10)

If you’re looking for longer range you go the bigger airframe. If you want performance you go the bigger airframe. If you want fewer aircraft to maintain then you go the bigger airframe. If you want bigger weapons you go a bigger airframe.

J-10 makes sense for the Chinese because they need proliferation of home-built engines. It is not the best fit for the Russians whom already have MiG-29. The Russians have two major fighter manufacturing programs, with each serving a different niche. The Chinese really have one indigenous manufacturing program, with several non-parallel offshoots built upon Russian engines. J-10 and J-11 built upon Al-31F1 is their only serious production game in town at this point, and both desperately need Russian engines because the WS-10a isn’t quite the same. J-20 is the indigenous program and so far it’s prototypes haven’t been weened from Russian engines for the same reason. That leaves J-8II as the soul indigenous production fighter, which coincidently is about the same weight class as J-10.

I think Gripen beats J-10 and J-8II, hands down.

Not really, J-10 is ugly comparatively speaking.

Just need an extrapolated Gripen NG.

The jump up to the F414 should give an edge in combat weight and true capability. Would you rather have the C or the E? The only honest answer is E. Knowing that F-16 production is being drawn down I could see the need for Gripen EX built around F1x0.

I don’t think Brazil would’ve been interested in a souped-up Mirage F.1 or 2000 — they wanted a modern platform in all respects.

So a new build F.1, using an M88, is souped up? That means perhaps in your mind Mirage 2000 is just a soured up Mirage III? Realize that I am not saying produce an aircraft that is exactly an F.1, but rather in its weight class. For all I care it could be a canard. And for all I care it could be the size of a Mirage III. I know the French are banking on Rafale for its carrier air arm in the future, but it seems a wee bit too expensive considering their history of flying Super Etendards and F-8 Crusaders. The Rafale was a leap in costs. Forcing the same high costs on to their army air force seems equally out of touch. At least a lighter airframe in parallel gave them better export opportunity.

Didn’t the first photo show a fuselage mounted mica?

Edit: lower right bump coming off the backside should be a mica

If France had focused on selling technology on hand and less about selling what it wanted to deliver, then they probably win. Instead of trying to sell Rafale, which wasn’t affordable, they could have been marketing a new Mirage F.1 using an M88. Get Brazil to build its airframe while the French built the high tech components from the engine to the radars. Let Brazil feel like its their design, but get something out of it.

Gripen simply was the practical choice. It fits the country of Brazil’s needs. It fulfilled what both their air force and navy needed. Sweden isn’t exactly on par with France, but they do a better sales job obviously.