And Neuron is not the only such program. EADS Barracuda for example which is backed by Spain and Germany.

And I would not bet on wo had the first stealthy UCAV demonstrator, when you think how suddenly RQ-170 Sentinel jumped out of the black and even then X-45 was before Neuron.

That won´t happen imho. A project including Dassault, BAe, EADS – Cassidian, Saab and minor players, will never fly.

It’s not a matter of “feel”ings, it’s a documented fact.

In France, our Mirage cost between 8,000 and 10,000€ per FH, while Rafale will cost 11, 000 to 12,000 (sometimes quoted even lower).

Not fair though. As especially the not upgraded M2000C fleet is very tired, so older planes requite more maintenance than newer planes and some spare parts are difficult and expensive to get, as the OEM is often out of business. A new plane has to have lower operational costs, if it is to have lower lifetime costs.

@Sign,
@Seahawk,
lol

I mean what is that discussion going to show? That the SU can carry more fuel internally, well that is no surprise if you look at the design goals.

Even the ongoing comparison between the mechanical Captor and first generation AESA seems a bit pointless to me, because nobody knows what the result shown to the pilot would be, how the information is presented, how reliable it is and how much situational awareness the pilot gains and how much work he needs to put into working the radar. Sensor fusion and am-to-machine interface are also ignored and few real pilots are in position to have an educated analysis of the different fighters. Maybe the EF voice control system is a big advantage in a dogfight, when the pilots just needs to say “guns” to activate the gun and switch the radar in the correct mode, while the pilot of a SU-27 might need to operate 3 switches to achieve the same.

Even engine data tells us little about the actual flying capabilities of the engine. Can you pull the engine from idle to full burner without a problem and leave everything to the engine control system, or will you need to be careful to not move the throttle to fast to avoid a compressor stall or something?

And there is one other thing. Do we know how the state acceptance trails compare in Russia, China, USA and Europe?

Landing craft is the least needed.

Today, the radar size or output power and even the type of antenna are often second to the software, when it comes to operational efficency. Data processing is the key.

No, from a Boeing point of view no contract is ok. The KC-135 is a Boeing product and keeping it flying will means work for them. While a delay would allow them to offer a KC-787, once the second line for the 787 is ready and the delays for the airliner customers have been dealt with.

PESA fpr the Rafale currently.