@Eagle1,
at the moment the Rafale won’t carry more than 4 AAMs in any AG configuration as the outer wing pylons aren’t cleared yet. But that’s already sufficient for the vast majority of scenarios.

Wrt the Typhoon, the payload inflexibility is for large weapons. Carrying small and medium AG munitions up to the 1000 lb class is not problematic and these weapons were those planned for the Typhoon’s secondary AG role. With CFTs the aircraft would likely meet or even exceed the range performance of a Tornado, but they have yet to be integrated and it’s like ever a let’s wait and see how it will work out in the end. I’m not to optimistic, but without CFTs heavy weapons are not a real option for Typhoons anyway. That might be one of the reasons why such weapons aren’t integrated yet and their integration has seen repeated delays. We’ll see.

@Nicolas,
IIRC the 125 kg version of the AASM is not being purchased/introduced by the French military, but offered on export. I suppose there are no recent updates wrt the rocket pods and outer wing pylon clearance?

Don’t see where this article is particularly pro Typhoon or poking others. It looks quite neutral to me, concentrating on facts and quoting representatives.

Calm down and continue on topic!!!:mad:

that is good news. There’s not a lot to do in the A2A arena so this must involve the dropping of bombs!!

No it must not. Could have been a CAP or fighter escort mission.

What’s your point?

I am showing you what the F-35A has actually cost (flyaway) from LRIP1-5. In each LRIP, the F-35 cost dropped from 10-20 million. In LRIP4 it came in at $126.8 (flyaway). For some reason you think that this consistent price drop will somehow come to a halt and that the F-35A will only drop 2-3 million per year. That is ignoring the F-35’s price history.

Yes and in 2020 LM will pay its customers for taking delivery of the aircraft:diablo: