The ‘performance’ of a clean Eurofighter Typhoon is better than a clean F-16 Block 50 but not nearly as much as some want everyone to believe.

On the other hand it is much better than some want everyone to believe… :diablo:

http://tacticalreport.com/view_news/Saudi_Arabia:_Satisfaction_with_the_F-5_performance/942

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) is said to be satisfied with the results achieved by the F-5E/F light fighter jet in its airstrikes on the Yemeni Houthi positions on the Saudi border with Yemen. The following 360-word report sheds light on the subject and tells whether the Saudis may reconsider their plans regarding this aircraft. Note that RSAF has plans to replace this aircraft with the Sweden-made JAS 39 Gripen.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/73495/India/What’s+wrong+with+IAF’s+Sukhoi.html

But things don’t look too good for the air force in the coming years. They have messed up their Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft ( MMRCA) competition by mixing apples and oranges, as it were. Instead of acquiring a Mig- 21 replacement – a light fighter like the Swedish Gripen, the American F- 16 or the Russian Mig- 29 – they have opened the competition for much more capable, heavier and expensive fighters like the Boeing FA18, the French Rafaele and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Should, for example any of the last named win the competition, we will have an air force of only top- of- the- line fighters, no workhorses.

And, if the LCA fails to measure up, the air force will try to fill the numbers with more MMRCA acquisitions which could complicate the situation further.

Scorpion82,

Thanks, this is a great initiative! And an excellent post to kick it off as well. Well done!

Well I for one is puzzled about the whole thing. Why did Lula on several occations state he favor Rafale, before the process has ended? And why is the process so delayed?

Consider: If both politicians and FAB prefer the Rafale, then it seems clear-cut, decision has already been made. Of course, if the price is seemed to be too high one should try to put pressure on France/Dassault. But my question then becomes; do you put pressure on somebody to lower their price by saying that they are clear favorite and give strong indication that they will be chosen?

Would it then not make more sense to say “it is wide open; we need to consider not just ToT but also costs”.

To me it seems the game Lula has played, has put more pressure on Saab/Boeing than on Dassault. Or is he much more clever than me; by first stating Dassault is the preferred option, he is forcing Saab/Boeing to improve their offers considerably; this again will force Dassault to do the same (because at that time he says that Rafale is still preferred but the competitition is not done yet).

Still, I think he has a bit of a problem; if he chooses Rafale the other two will complain that he declared a winner before the competition was done; if he chooses one of the other two, France will feel they have been used in a dirty game to squeeze the maximum benefits and the lowest price of the winner.

And to me it seems in any case bizzare to “declare a winner” when the competition is still running, but I guess that’s just me.

For the “FAB preferred option”; I have seen only three rumors on different web sites:

1. SH is preferred.
2. Gripen is preferred.
3. Rafale is not preferred.

Any links to more unsubstantiated anonymous rumors are welcome 🙂

Updated article on Rafale in DiD:

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Frances-Rafale-Fighters-Au-Courant-in-Time-05991/

France recently increased its commitment to the platform, and there are finally rumbles on the export front. Even so, questions remain. Will Dassault’s fighter become a fashionably late fighter platform that builds on its parent company’s past successes – or just “the late Rafale”?

Why did you ask a question to which you already knew the answer? :confused:

1. Because I do not always trust the press (and perhaps in particular the Brazilian press, which I am less familiar with) and

2. Because I don’t trust the Google translate tool.

Why did you suggest the telephone if you did not know the answer? :diablo:

Has Sarko recently been to Brazil?

This story is dated November 26th.

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aereo.jor.br%2F&sl=auto&tl=en

But in two conversations he had with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Sarkozy could not extract any clearer signal that the Dassault, manufacturer of the Rafale combat aircraft, will win the competition of the FAB.
In the bilateral meeting, Lula said Sarkozy only that the process of competition will continue, no date to complete, according to Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim.