What nonsense.
Brimstone weighs half of what even a sidewinder weighs,
Gripen NG out-ranges EF with the weaponry suited for this campaign,
for a fraction of the cost.

Really and what is that cost fraction and range advantage in quantities?

Thanks for the informative post Scorpion82.

You are welcome. Btw I have updated the post to correct an error and to add the latest information I have gathered.

It’s worth noting that the Janes article states “Rafale exceeds the minimum requirements… most clearly“. As in one newspaper article (I think it was the Baseler Zeitung) mission endurance and payload have been criteria pointed out in the first place. In this light it’s absolutely not surprising that the Rafale scored so well with its payload/range advantage over the other two types. Anyway it’s a pity that the Rafale didn’t made it, but there are still plenty of competitions which could materialize into deals. However, I’m a little bit pessimistic after all these failures, the French really need to rethink their strategy as it seems to be the main cause for their failures thus far.

These numbers are what the Swiss army evaluated. It’s possible that they might be different under different circonstencies.

Those data are based on what the manufacturers provided or not. The data about the Rafale are the very same as given by Rafale International on their Swiss website. This has nothing to do with the evaluation results. But it’s funny how some people already try to pass them as “evaluation” data, even some self proclaimed and “oh so professional experts” (Not you Mildave).

mrmalaya,

The case of corruption in Austria is a reality, not a mirage. So it is perfectly valid to talk about it. That’s not like if I assumed something or making an interpretation. Here we are talking about “jail sentences” that were actualy issued against the person who accepted monay from EADS. If we are to believe some this kind of business is always “pure” when we all knwo is not the case. Sometimes some are caught accepting things they should have turned down. The fact that J. did not even mention it is quite a partial and bias interpretation of this deal which undemines its credibility just like for Japan.

Thus far the recent scandals are centred around Austrian citizens and IIRC they are related to the contracts concerning building contracts for Zeltweg not related to the Eurofighter deal itself. The former AAF Air Chief had contacts to a weapons seller who was contracted by EADS. The personal links existed for many years already and thus far nothing could be proven, though the Air Chief was suspended. However, if something had been found the Austrians would have cancelled the deal as they were doing their utmost to achieve that goal, it was actually promised by the winning government party. The validity of Eurofighter’s selection was also confirmed by the Austrian Bundesrechnungshof three times in total!

@mrmalaya
But has the Gripen (any variant) been selected by the Swiss air force? It seems to be being implied here that it is an offer/entry to the competition, rather than the one selected and given the contract?

Yes it has been selected. Financial terms are yet to be finalized and a final decision is expected at the end of 2012. The final decision more reflects the agreement on the purchase in general and the acceptance of the financial terms.

It was always the JAS 39C/D which was on offer and there is no indication that this has changed. However, it might be possible that the Swedes may incorporate some NG elements as deliveries have been postponed due to the general delays in the selection process. I wouldn’t bet on that however as the budget is tight and there is probably little room for exchanging the C/D for the E/F (NG) without affecting the price of the package which would render the arguments somewhat useless.