They may see some further (minor) sales in the ME — otherwise I think it will be the end of the line in 2023.

A great jet, but too late and too expensive.

USN says updated Super Hornets could mix well with F-35s

http://www.janes.com/article/69419/usn-says-updated-super-hornets-could-mix-well-with-f-35s

The purchase of fighter a/c is often quite political — some countries do not have fighters at all, in particular the Baltic countries (in spite of having Russia as close neighbor).

Belgium is a NATO member having only friendlies as neighbors. Thus in theory Belgium could decide to leave the QRA duty to other countries and instead spend their defence money on other aspects, be it UCAVs, submarines, special forces, or whatnot.

Or they can decide (as they have done) to fly fighters.

Even then the question remains; what kind of fighters? fighters to do QRA only, or fighters that can survive in high-threat environments? This is a political question, due to Belgium’s NATO membership.

The answer is given in the RFP: Belgium wants (and requests) a modern, very potent multirole fighter jet that can successfully complete a whole range of missions, including in quite high-threat environments.

This, together with a strong wish to be compatible with other NATO forces point in one direction: The F-35.

Anyway as stated before: I hope the Belgians will present high-level summaries like the Danes did; perhaps someone will be surprised when they see the Rafale results 😉

Look at the map. Our AD assests are located 150km away from Shayrat airbase covered by Nusayriyah Mountains. There was no technical ability to shoot down anything at that range and given landscape. But even if we would have this ability, i’m not sure we would be willing to shoot down anything, anyway. Of course, TLAM is not a manned aircraft but technically it’s still US aircraft.

Noteworthy, the TLAMs flew across the MEZ (Missile Engagement Zone) of the S-400 missile battery the Russians deployed to Latakia to protect the Russian air contingent deployed there in 2015.
Did Russia’s most advanced anti-aircraft defense system detect the missiles? For sure there are no reports of any of the BGM-109 intercepted by the S-400.*

Designated SA-21 “Growler” by NATO, the S-400 is believed to be able to engage all types of*aerial targets including aircraft (someone says even VLO – Very Low Observable ones), drones and ballistic and cruise missiles within*the range of*250 miles at*an altitude of*nearly 19 miles. Equipped with 3 different types of missiles and an acquisition radar capable of tracking up to 300 targets within the range of over 370 miles, the Triumph (or Triumf) is a system made of 8 launchers and a control station.

Supported by effective EW (Electronic Warfare) capabilities, the S-400 fires missiles that fly at 17,000 km/h against aerial targets.

So, at least on paper, all non-stealth aircraft and missiles would hardly be able to dodge S-400 missiles. Assuming that the Russians probably detected at least some of the Tomahawks flying fast and low towards their targets at Shayrat Airbase it’s not clear why the Trimf did not attempt to intercept any of the TLAMs launched by the US destroyers, considered the reaction by Viktor Ozerov, head of the Russian Federation Council’s defense committee, who said the American attack was “an act of aggression against a UN member […] Cooperation between the Russian and US militaries may be shut down after the US strike.” according to state news agency RIA.

Perhaps, considered that they were informed beforehand, they simply decided to let them pass.

https://theaviationist.com/2017/04/07/us-military-has-launched-59-cruise-missiles-at-airbase-in-syria-heres-what-we-know-so-far/

With the longe range of S-400 I believe it should be feasible to shoot down the TLAMs…?

I what he should have full control of are the smuggling tunnels from Turkey to Syria.. We have been through this before..

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/11/the-syrian-sarin-false-flag-lesson/

I suggest you read this:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/22/allegation-false-turkey-chemical-attack-syria

Are you able to counter all their arguments?

If Assad really is behind this then all the logic goes out of the windows. There’s absolutely no reason to use chemical weapons in Idlib. I might believe if this had happened near Deiz-er-Zor. If there can be found a solid evidence that Assad made the decision, then he really is mad as a hatter.

Either he is mad, or or he does not have full control of his troops, I do not know which is the most likely….

Syria wont have chemical weapons because these weapons were removed under the supervision of OPCW.

They CW were verified by US Intel , Russians and OPCW before destroying , So much so SD then tweeted about the success of removing CW from Syria.

US or any other country did not complain to OPCW about the existence of chemical weapon to OPCW , These are verifiable treaty and OPCW can visit any time if any member nations complains about it.

Even if today US complains or suspects that Syria has chemical weapons at certain location it can lodge a complain to OPCW and Syrian/Russian would be oblige to Verify that.

Bottom line is there are no CW left over in Syria and if Obama felt all these time he was cheated in the deal he would have surely complained about it.

Syrian on the other hand had complained to UN/OPCW that CW chemicals are bought in syria via Turkey and other countries

LOL — there is a war going on in Syria.

Do you really believe anything that Assad says?

Do you really believe that sarin gas was smuggled from outside into Syria?

Use Occams razor: Assad lied and cheated. He did not hand over all chemical weapons as he promised he would do.

Russia helped broker the deal with Assad, they had (and have) people on the ground working with the Assad regime. The Russians are in a difficult position; either they were incompetent in not fully checking that their ally (not US’ ally) followed through the deal, or, (even worse) they knew that A did not hand over everything.

Interesting to note that even the French seem to support this US action (unlike the time when Bush junior falsely claimed there was WMD in Iraq). That should give you another hint…. also the French believe A was behind this chemical attack. In fact all Western countries seem to believe this to be the case.

Edit:

However, OPCW chief Ahmet Uzumcu told Reuters at the time that he could not confirm that that was the last of Syria’s chemical weapons. “All declared chemical weapons have left Syria (but) clearly we cannot say as the secretariat of the OPCW that Syria doesn’t possess any chemical weapons any more,” he said.

http://time.com/4728846/sarin-nerve-gas-syria/

So OPWC has clearly stated that they were not at all sure that all was removed, they basically had to trust Assad — undermining your assumption above.

SEOUL, South Korea — President Donald Trump’s decision to target Syria with a barrage of cruise missiles wasn’t just aimed at a government air base but also at sending a powerful warning to North Korea.

https://www.stripes.com/news/syria-strikes-also-send-powerful-message-to-north-korea-1.462406#.WOdRyIVOIid

In line with my thinking….

Edit:

“In both word and action, President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated,” Netanyahu said in a statement by his office.

He added: “Israel fully supports President Trump’s decision and hopes that this message of resolve in the face of the Assad regime’s horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-praises-message-of-resolve-in-us-strike-on-syria/

The Israelis clearly also understand why the US acted in this manner.