Anyhow

i think this sale of Saab-2000 AEW&C to Saudis will also backup PAF’s decision to go for Saab-2000 instead of EMB-145 (which offers slight speed and altitude advantage) was criticized in some circles. Brazilian Air Force and Hellenic Air Force of Greece and now Indian air force have chosen the EMB-145 as platform for the AEW&C

IIRC this new (or updated) SAAB 2000 machines actually offers more loiter time then the EMB-145, but with a more economic platform. Remember when the 2000 was created “the performance of a jet, but the economics of the turboprop”. The speed is some inferior but the altitude pretty much the same. But are these issues really matter when you are deciding a platform? Isn´t the main thing what it can perform and its availability?

You just contridicted yourself on the US Embargoe/Gripens thing, but never mind. Yes, lets get back to topic.

The total contract price seems a hell of a lot for just one SAAB 2000

It´s not only one Erieye system. God damnit. Read the previous posts.

(It is 2 systems + 1 “learning system” so in fact it is 3. You get it. 3 pretty planes flying in the blue sky with shiny radar-thingies attached to them. And you can´t compare these to the ancient american systems they have. These new Erieyes have the capabilities gained from the Carabas. (just like the Pakistan ones) Don´t know about Carabas? Google it…)

Edit: Is **** a swear word? I thought it was just short for Pakistanian.

Dont count on it. We have very strict laws regarding export of (offensive) weapons to dictatorships or “conflict countries” in Sweden. For good and for worse. Both UAE and the Saudis approaced Hägglunds to accuire CV90s some ten yrs ago, but the government put a stop to it on a very early stage.
Most W European countries (spare France) have these laws. But the regulations are especially tough in Sweden and Germany.
Some Swedish companies have compensated for this by smuggeling weapons through third party countries. Howitzers to India and RBS70 to Pakistan are just two examples. (Today India is regarded a fully democratic country, so all export limitations to them have been lifted).

Don´t know what you are talking about. The howitzers to India or the RBS 70 to Pakistan was certainly NOT smuggled. It was legit sales.
Yes we have strict law regarding arms sales abroad. In fact, every arms sales is de facto illegal by Swedish law and has to be approved by a special committee. Those guys then decides if it is OK or not.
In 2002 Sweden and Saudi Arabia signed a defense deal which included sales of these kinds of weapons, they were given the green light. Now when they have the green light, almost every weapons sale to them can (and will) be cleared as it is seen as a “follow on order”. The Erieye is not the end of this partnership, it is just the beginning…

There has been a discussion about a possible order for Erieye from Colombia. As far as I know the Swedish authorities did give a preliminary license for the deal some 2 years ago.

But Sweden or SAAB have never kept any of their sales to Colombia secret before.

The only recent “secret” deals from SAAB I can think of is the Arthur to various countries involved in either the Iraq or Afghanistan war. And then we were strictly talking tactical reasons, not political once… (once in this sentence is grammatical wrong, I know… onse? ones?)

(I am talking new contracts, not follow on orders. Like a order to Pakistan could be classified as a follow on order depending on the contract)

I believe RBS15 is included in the Thai purchase.

That´s true. Makes me wonder if Thailand is planning on introducing the missile in their navy as well.

The print additions didn’t have them, I found out. Even in the online edition, these two usually carry the bland PTI print.

But during Aero-India, Shri. Rajat Pandit and Shri. Manu Pubby run blitzkriegs on the “roaring Gripens..” and the ” stormy Typhoons ..”

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Now, it may be a bit unfortunate that Tejas is still referred to as an “LCA”. True, back in 1987 it was indeed an LCA, as it was meant to be no more than a MiG-21 back then. But it has clearly shed it’s MiG-21 “baby skin”.

So, today which jet qualifies as an LCA ? The trainer jets like Hawk, IJT Sitara etc. are actually LCAs — around 4.5 to 5 tons of empty weight. These trainers have secondary rat-a-tat capability, and they are almost always pressed into service during wartime due to this. These are used for what is called, “point-defence” or “area defence”, in which they’re used as a last line of defence of an important installation, or an air base, against enemy raiders.

Tejas clearly does not fall in this category. A MiG-21 does, but then a MiG-21 is no Tejas.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/tejas-boosts-test-programme/397143/

“But, the IAF is less exuberant. Senior air marshals point out to Business Standard that, if they grant the Tejas IOC at the end of 2010, it will be in the long-term interest of the fighter programme, not because the Tejas has met all its targets. The Tejas does not fly as fast as originally planned; its acceleration is significantly less; and the Tejas has not been tested yet in carrying much of the weaponry it is designed to.”

To me it seems like the LCA is more or less a MiG-21. The radar and such may be top notch but not the performances. But the MiG-21 can be upgraded, and it has been done, even by India. Do you think that the IAF prefer the Bison to a inferior (in performance) LCA or one of the MRCA contenders?

It´s a quote from someone in the SAAB-team. From another forum.

The reason Gripen is mentioned now I suppose is because the Gripen NG Demo landed in India on monday and started its testflights yesterday. (Before that SAAB have been flying the Gripen D in India). But Indian pilots have been flying the NG Demo in Sweden back in April as you see in this link;
http://livefist.blogspot.com/2010/05/flash-gripen-demo-clears-leh-trials.html

And yesterday this article was published
http://www.idsa.in/idsacomments/MMRCAAdifficultchoicefortheIAF_rphadke_190510
where the author in his last paragraph may seem to be pro-Gripen…