If it is doomed, I hope Airbus dooms it as fast as possible. Remembering that Airbus signed a contract with unusual accountability (you get it wrong as manufacturer, you pay rather than the client) I would not be surprised if Airbus told the customers that it was not prepared to continue the project.

LM and Boeing make alternatives if you need military lift.

Engine for Tejas MK2 , comparision between EJ200 and F414 ( courtesy IDR )

From what I read the EJ200 seems to win quite convincingly – more advanced technology + thrust growth potential + easier fit in Tejas. Apart from price (I presume F414 is less expensive), what virtue can F414 offer?

:rolleyes:
If the F-35 sucks so bad why doesn’t Britain, Australia and Japan team up and develop their own Raptor-like fighter?(

Why would Britain need to develop an alternative to the F-35 if the F-35 proves to be an expensive failure? It already has an alternative. It may be expensive (but not as expensive as the F-35 promises to be) and Britain’s air force does not appear to consider it a failure as a fighter.

In my opinion the Typhoon makes most sense to Greece right now. It is so far the best available airframe to counter the shorter reaction times resulting from Turkish JSF introduction.
The aircraft is compatible with US weapons, as well as offering an independend source for a2a missiles and some a2g munitions.

Concerning F-16, Rafale and Typhoon, how long will these be expected to remain in service if purchased? How long are these types expected to remain available for any additional orders?

I guess that F-16 has the shortest assured production life. While there may be a very large number in service, what are the chances of future technologies being developed for them 5 or 10 years down the line, especially as they cease to be front line fighters in their home country?

In contrast one can expect continued development of Rafale and Typhoon and integration of forthcoming weapons systems both of US and European origin. OK, integration of US weapons on Rafale is less likely than on Typhoon which makes me think that Typhoon would be a better choice for Greece in the long run, paticularly if the A2A role is seen as important. If I am correct Rafale is limited to Mica at the moment (I assume Greece would not want Magic) and Mica is very expensive I hear. Meteor will not be available for many years and it looks like they will cost about $US2 million each.

Just try explaining that to the “the F-22 is so good we only need 20 of them crowd”. 😉

20? You underestimate the aircraft. 1 should be enough to take out any opposing air force according to the rhetoric I have heard!:)

No matter how good a single plane is, you are always going to need a specific number of them to cover a theater. And if the plane is too expensive to accommodate the necessary numbers in your given budget, it’s just not an option.

A couple of nuggets of reality that many seem unable to grasp.

As I read it, the article above basically says that anything except the F-22 is a waste of time and money. If correct, how would countries denied the F-22 defend themselves unless they (jointly/individually) developed an aircraft comparable to or better than the F-22?

Tejas is going to be used as the Kaveri test platform but the next seven squadrons of Tejas are going to have foriegn engines.

At the moment the plan seems to be:

40 x Mk1 with GE-404
100 x Mk2 with GE-414/EJ200
??? x Mk3 with Kaveri/SNECMA

If the Kaveri/SNECMA JV fails to make progress fast enough, will the Mk3 be abandoned in favour of more Mk2 aircraft or would Tejas production be shut down and revived when the JV engine was ready?

I take it that the JV engine would still be used for the MCA so its development would still be justified if it were never used in the Tejas.