Given all the excitement that the Rafale and the Typhoon offer has generated, people tend to forget that the Gripen entered the scene way before the Rafale and the Typhoon. It has been offered as a cheaper solution – not only to buy but also to operate and support in the long term – that can do the job just as well as its more expensive twin engine and ubder sexy competitors.

Hi,

thanks for many high-quality posts on this thread.

In general I agree to what you say above however one critital assumption would be that the Gripen NG actually meet the requirements. After all, Rafale and Typhoon are larger than the Gripen; yes they are significantly more expensive but also more capable in some areas, in particular when it comes to payload and endurance. The question then becomes: will Gripen meet the requirements of the Malaysian Air Force? It met the requirements of e.g. the Swiss and Swedish air forces, but it did not meet the requirements of the Indian air force (it seems).

LCA mk1 seems to not cut it, and the mk2 is still some time into the future.

Perhaps there is a reason why Saab has not yet given up on India…?

The AEW fleet is in no shape to fly for that long even with upgrades. I would suggest a 737 based AEW platform, that can be cheaply acquired and costs little to operate.

What about Wedgetail?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_AEW%26C

According to Air&Cosmos, first test flights scheduled in 2014

Of what?

I thought they recently published some numbers? Wasnt’ it 30-32,000 USD per hour or something like that?

Could we move discussions to the discussions thread please?

From O at mp.net:

-CARAA (Additional capabilities for active antenna) is a software upgrade to improve performance against low speed and low altitude threats and to detect ground targets. Tests planned for 2014/2015.
-DEDIRA (stealth Rafale demonstrator) aims to improve stealth. Significant funding for several years. First modifications will be tested real size soon. Content still classified.

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1824/itz5.jpg

K on DEDIRA:

http://rafalenews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/air-and-cosmos-bring-new-insight-on.html

the air intake shape could be modified and conformal weapon containers could be used to hide weapons. New RAM technology is also considered. All in all, this looks very much like the “silent Hornet” pack developed by Boeing for the F/A-18E and presented as an operational less expensive alternative to the F-35 full stealth approach.

By the time F-35 is ready, Rafale can potentially be a very potent system, much closer in capabilities to F-35 than what many (Americans!) would think possible today — provided this is all funded. But it’s a question of funding and not technical capabilities and technical potential.

This is also why I think the term “4.5 gen” is fully justified for a/c like Rafale, SH, Typhoon and Gripen NG; they are modern and have a significant potential for growth; much more so than “4. gen” like the F-16 or Hornet.

I think this development program is also why the French claim they will be able to meet the Canadian requirements, not just pre 2030 but also post 2030.

I strongly doubt Malaysia and South Korea will go for the Typhoon…

SK no doubt will buy American.

Malaysia will buy American, French or Swedish.

UAE may be a possibility though.