I hope Serbia does not forget recent history and does not buy aircraft from countries who bimbed them in the last decade. Serbia needs a reliable partner and that can only be Russia. So SU-30s seem like a good option.

One should tell them to STFU. Boeing won, EADS did not have a product it could sent into the competition.

When A400 has been in production as long as C-130 Ill start listening to A400 proponents. But I have a nagging feeling that when the last A400 rolls offf the line, there will still be orders coming in for the “Herk”.

Why not? C-130 found taker when the C-141, C-5, C-17, C-27, CASA 235-295, AN-26, AN-12, AN-124, etc. were available.

Better built a fat belly herc, than giving money to the failed European project.

The US has F-22 and F-35, which is all they need and F-35 will sell on the export market.

Europe does not have the will nor the money to built a competitor to T-50.

If I have read that right, are you seriously suggesting the T-50 prototype has an RCS better than the F-35?
And how will the final version be a world leader if it matches the F-35’s RCS but doesn’t match the F-22’s RCS, by my logic the F-22 would still be the world leader in that department.

In frontal RCS, it seesm to be having comparable design features as F-35. However both US products (F-22 and F-35) are way more refined today. T-50 needs to get a few modifications to come to the same level. (the IRST housing alone needs some work, as does the underside around the engines and surely the back)

But T-50 is first protoype. Much of it will be refined until series production starts. The general layout and design should make it possible to match F-22, which will be out of production when T-50 enters service.

2013 was the end of the first test phase They never talked about series production at that date. 2015 would be quick enough. how long did it take from YF-22 until the first F-22 were prodcued?

The final production version will also be much improved. Having new engines, even more RCS reduction. All in all the series version will be fastly superior to any other airplane in service by 2018.

One should be honest, that it won´t be much cheaper than F-22, so it would make sense to buy more of those and buy new legacy fighters to replace worn out G-16,F-15 and F-18.