France is not willing to get the F-35 and doesn’t have to make do with costs overrun, delays, and unspecified updates to achieve FOC.
Nice try, though. :p

Well that’s a natural advantage of using older, less sophisticated technology. I’m sure a Spitfire would be even simpler and cheaper still.

Should we really sell weapons to a country like that anyway:

Last week the UK Ministry of Justice pulled out of negotiations over a £5.9m prisons training contract. The move followed a personal plea from Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to the prime minister to scrap the deal after the Saudis sentenced a 17-year-old Shia protester to death by beheading.

If any countries should currently have sanctions on them and be barred from entering the Olympics/World Cup, it’s Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Their human rights record defies belief, yet we always bitch about China and the fact that Russia won’t allow homosexuality to be promoted to minors.

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151025/1029079639/iraq-allows-russian-airstrikes-isil.html

As Russian airstrikes push ISIL terrorists from Syria into Iraq, Moscow and Baghdad agreed to hit the militants in Iraq, said Hakem al-Zameli, the head of the Iraqi Parliament’s National Security and Defense Commission, according to Fars News Agency.

ISIL militants aren’t going to find a safe haven from Russian airstrikes in Iraq after the country’s parliament gave Russia the green light to conduct airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq.

“Iraq agreed with Russia, which leads the joint data center, to hit the ISIL militants heading from Syria into Iraq,” al-Zameli said, highlighting the fact that the move would also cut off ISIL supply routes from Iraq into Syria, as cited by Fars.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/20/mideast-crisis-syria-russia-kurds-idUSL8N12K0X020151020

The Kurds have been naturally positive about Russia entering the theater.
Supposedly there was a Syrian Kurdish contingent visiting Moscow at the same time Assad was there….make of that what you will.

Turkey won’t be happy.

http://americans.org/2015/09/21/china-just-secretly-tested-the-fastest-aircraft-in-the-world/

A recent test of a new hypersonic aircraft by the Chinese may have been the fastest in the world. A vaguely worded report released Friday on the website of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China indicated that an initial test flight of the super-fast plane took place at an unspecified high-altitude. The plane reportedly utilized a “unique flying style.” The AVIC is China’s state-owned aerospace and defense enterprise.

The report was then quickly taken down but not before giving military analysts reason to believe that China is working on a new hypersonic aircraft that is capable of travelling at five times the speed of sound, also known as Mach 5.

The model of the plane has not been provided. It is also unknown what China’s intentions with the fast aircraft might be. However, it is believed that the aircraft is capable of flying at record-breaking speeds.

The AVIC report referred to “test pilots,” but this might be describing drone pilots. Thus, it is currently unknown whether the aircraft is manned or unmanned.

Experts state that if the aircraft is indeed manned, then it would reportedly fly quicker than the SR-71 Blackbird, a strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was long-range and capable of speeds more than Mach 3. The SR-71 Blackbird was operated by the United States Air Force until its retirement in 1998.

However, if the Chinese aircraft is more of an unmanned drone, it would be more properly compared to the SR-72, a concept drone that is envisioned to reach speeds in excess of Mach 6.

Chinese officials in the report said that there are still many technical issues that must be dealt with before a stable hypersonic aircraft of such a nature can be developed.

However if the report is indeed real, this shows a major step forward in China’s defense capabilities.

The current record for the fastest aircraft ever goes to the North American X-15, which reached speeds of up to 4,520 miles per hour. The X-15 was retired in 1968.

* it is often said that the F-111 also received a F-designator despite lacking fighter capabilities but in fact the bomb-bay M61 pack was often armed for self-defence during Combat Lancer.

It was originallly intended to also fill a naval interceptor role (F-111B) but that fell through and the F-14 came in. I guess it did get credited with half a kill.

If Russia doesn’t sell, China will.

Which reminds me, they were on about exporting the J-31…