I think you are wrong — in general Western planes are not sold to adversaries of the West…

And precisely for that reason it does not make sens to pit Rafale/Typhoon against the F-35/F-22… Better to spend the time and money to train scenarios against the most likely adversaries…

It can also be that the F-15E is the best fighters of the whole world but this doesn’t change the fact that in all the exercises cited in this thread there were none in which ANY plane of the current production cycle has been put against ANY plane of the same level, only against legacy ones.

Perhaps I misunderstand what you are trying to say, but 4.5 gen fighters like Rafale and Typhoon have of course flown against eachother.

A 4.5 gen fighter like Rafale or Gripen E would probably stand a slightly better chance against the F-35 than the F-15E — not to mention the Typhoon once it gets an AESA radar.

My guess: Perhaps going from a score of 21-1 to 20-2 or so… (that’s 100% improvement! :))

ANALYSIS: Saab counts down to Gripen E debut

Saab is counting down to performing the first flight of its Gripen E combat aircraft before the end of June, as it also strives to finalise a slew of potential new sales of the earlier C/D version in Europe and Africa.

Full story: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-saab-counts-down-to-gripen-e-debut-437320/

Operate in defended airspace…

Curiously the French and Swedes seem to believe that they can operate Rafale and Gripen E for still some time to come…

No doubt stealth is highly preferrable however with the right tactics a modern 4.5 gen fighter jet still has a lot to offer.

Cost seems to be an issue with the Typhoon, in particular operational costs.

Another major issue however was mentioned by Eagle above; the capability to carry nukes (or rather the lack thereof).

Most likely the Germans will purchase a small (20-40?) number of F-35 and use them as a stop-gap while they develop their own 5. gen fighter (assuming they can find partners — might be tricky after the highly expensive “Typhoon experience” — they have to do better in the future!)

this has been discussed already — this may not be “active cancellation” however the term “active stealth” may be a reasonable description…

It has been reported that also Gripen C/D have similar capabilities. However the Gripen E no doubt will have much enhanced EWS capabilities.

For now the vast majority of the threat will be advanced 4th and 4+ generation aircraft

IMHO 4th gen a/c is not much of a threat for the F-35 — the capability gap is too big.

Perhaps a/c like Rafale, Gripen E and Typhoon (with advanced IRST, AESA radar, and improved sensor fusion) can reduce the gap, however those are mainly operated by allies and therefore not a threat.

Until J-20 and PAK-FA becomes operational it is difficult to imagine there can be any air threats at all (and even then it seems highly likely that the F-35 will maintain a significant lead since by then the F-35 will be further upgraded).

Saab has active Gripen campaigns in Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Colombia, Finland, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippians, Slovakia and Switzerland

Read more: http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/saab-wages-never-surrender-global-gripen-campaign