It is also bad industrial policy.

The UK wanted Nimrod MR4A when the French offered Atltantique 2
They wanted the leading share in the workload to built Typhoon and signed up to buy a big fixed bumber of them to get it
They wanted a big share in JSF and paid lots of money in the development phase and promised to buy a sizeable number of it
They wanted C-17 and be part in C-130J and A400M

And then there was the CVF idea….

Does that not depend on your potential enemy? If you ar e expecting to deal with light infantry guerillias like the PKK, then more A129 are more effective then fewer Mil-28.

I do not understand the engine discussion. We could also list that EJ has 15% grwoth potential as is, and up to 30% with some changes and it has TW ready…..

The biggest drawback that I see for Rafale in the Swiss competition is the weapons question. None of its missiles work on the F-18. This is no problem for EF and Grippen. Both thatke Sidewinder and AMRAAM and in addition the Spanish AF did also integrate IRIS-T on the Hornet.

Sorry about the Link 16 error, but one thing I do not quite get.

I know that the Swiss would get to use Deci in Italy and Polygone in Germany, should they buy EFs, is there a viable French alternative to those 2 training areas?

Er…YG KnAAPO has spent the last 3 years tooling-up, importing specialist heavy fab machinery from Europe & Japan, of particular note is the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Composite fabs- the same ones used for the ‘Dreamliner’.
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Machines are only one part of it. It is the mindset of the workers. It is experience how to mix various materials into a composite structure that does reduce the RCS and does not delaminate at high temperatures, vibrations or static and dynamic loads.
Lockheed is working on those problems since A-12.

That depends on what you call RAM. RAM in the conventional form is rather scare on the F-22 and F-35, however structural parts made of composites that also have a secondary function as RAM or designed to the reduce radar signature will make up big parts of both airframes. And that is the point in which I have little faith in Russia. Producing complicated composites structures on an industrial level for a decent price is not something they have shown to the world so far.

A 18-200 is infrior to a recent 70-300 regardless of manufacturer. The 777 looks soft, es should be expected by the lense used.