F 35 resume arrested hook trials in Lakehurst

Trials or training? I thought the arrestor hook system design had been altered and tested succesfully.

The EF is certainly a strong performer in air to air, but then all of the 4.5 generation fighters are. We could go through the total rundown but we know how that is going to end up. The EF is fast, but still has a mechanically scanned array. The Rafale is nimble but has the smallest radar of the bunch. The SH has the most capable radar of the three, tied with the EF for size but a very modern AESA. It also has a towed decoy and some other nice features, but it is the slowest of the group… etc.

SH may have a very modern AESA but because EF has lagged behind it will have the most modern AESA when it finally gets one. I imagine that the superior number of TR modules will give it an advantage over Rafale. Additionally when Meteor becomes available (due on EF earlier than on Rafale) EF should clearly be a better A2A aircraft than SH and Rafale.

We have known for years that the 36 plane order for Brazil was naturally suposed to be just the tip of the iceberg. The current number of fighters M2000, F-5EMs and AMX stands at a notional 120 aircraft so any next gen type would be needed to top at lest the current number. BUT since after the new National Defense Strategy the escort ship numbers of the Brazilian Navy is set to expand from 11 today to some 30 in 20 years time it makes absolitely no sense that FAB fighter force would stay frozen at 120 units in the same time period. Thus I heard the “big number” 200 from an Air Force General as this the intended new size of the future fighter fleet. The suggested number of +100 fighters takes the total oprder to 136, beyond the earlier 120 fighter limit but leaving space for the later adoption of a 5th gen fighter toi complement with “quality” the “quantity” that the 136 Gripens would naturally bring to the table.

Who knows, if all goes well, the publicly mentioned future 5th gen Brazilian fighter desired by the Brazilian Defense Minister could very well become an extension of the current Brazilian-Swedish deal maybe with the participation of other nations to dilute cost and risks.

Comments?

Hammer

Regarding development of a 5G fighter, I think that there is a real opportunity for co-operation. India, South Korea and Turkey have an interest in developing a 5G aircraft and have got no further than preliminary studies. That’s good because none of those countries has decided on their precise requirement. Additionally none of those countries has spent $$$ on an indigenous programme which would be largely wasted if abandoned in favour of an international programme.

Preferably any mutually agreed design would use a non-US engine to avoid the US dictating which countries could be customers. Ideally an engine would be sourced from within the countries joining the programme eg a fully developed Kaveri.

The Swedish government has already confirmed that part of the 36 Gripen-E combat aircraft earmarked in Saab’s preliminary sale contract will be manufactured at a new plant in Sao Bernardo, an industrial city located close to Sao Paulo. This facility would produce the Gripen-E or two seat Gripen-F aircraft in support of any future sales to other South American and African countries.

Is it worth setting up a plant to manufacture/assemble less than 36 aircraft? I note that Chile, Colombia and Ecuador all operate Mirage/Kfir/F-16 (60+). I imagine that Brazil must plan to procure a lot more aircraft for the FAB or see a reasonable possibility of selling some Gripen E to those countries – or both – to justify investing in a new plant.

I am not sure how the F-16 entered into this. We were talking about the Eurofighter, which Janes listed at 18,000 per hour. (not quite 4:1 but pretty close considering they listed the Gripen at 4,700.)

Sorry, my bad.

Indeed. The comparisons have to be made on the same basis. We know that four years ago the marginal cost of operating a Typhoon for the RAF was $6160 (at the current exchange rate), or probably around $6750 now, allowing for inflation. That makes marginal operating costs per hour of <=$4000 for Gripen credible, but not a ratio of 4:1. Apples & apples, not apples & oranges.

The Janes figures are Gripen $4,700 and F-16 $7,800. That’s not 4:1.

Absolutely. Range doesn’t scale linearly with size, but payload/range scales pretty close to it. A Gripen might get to, say, 1000 km from its base as easily as n F-15E, but not with anything like the same load. It’s only half the size.

The Brazilians think that’s acceptable, & that’s up to them. They’re coming from F-5E & AMX, so Gripen is a big jump up in every way for most of their air force.

If your use of a fighter over its service life hours is only 1% A2G in combat, needing to fly more A2G missions to deliver the same weight of ordnance is not a disadvantage to me. In the bigger picture your overall defence capability is budget limited. The less that training flights, air policing etc cost, the more that is available for frigates, anti-tank missiles or whatever. Flying a more expensive aircraft than you need for 99% of the time is not a cost effective use of your bdfget,

Brazil has announced plans to rent between six and 12 used Swedish Saab Gripen C and D fighter jets to strengthen the country’s air defence during the Rio 2016 Olympics before the delivery of the first consignment of 36 fighter jets from 2018 to meet the FX-2 requirement.

The news comes as Saab announced that 80% of the structure of the new fighter jets will be manufactured in Brazil.

http://www.janes.com/article/31876/brazil-to-rent-gripen-aircraft-ahead-of-fx-2-delivery

I don’t see why you need to strengthen defence with Gripens because of the Olympics. Why is increased capability necessary for the Olympics but not the football World Cup?

Who would fly these Gripens? If Brazilian pilots, Brazil would need to start pilot training how soon? What is interesting about this announcement is that Brazil seems to be confident that a contract will be signed with SAAB without negotations dragging on (as with Rafale in India). I doubt that Brazil would start training pilots on Gripen unless it was certain/almost certain that a Gripen purchase contract was going to be signed.

Brazil May Lease Gripen Cs As Mirages Retire

(Source: Defense-Aerospace.com; published Dec. 23, 2013)

PARIS — Brazil is interested in leasing or buying second-hand Gripen C/D fighters until the new-generation Gripen E it has selected as its new fighter enters service in 2018. Initial deliveries will go to Sweden, however, and first deliveries to Brazil are not expected until two years later, in 2020, contrary to earlier reports.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/150475/brazil-may-lease-gripen-cs-as-mirages-retire.html

Only to be expected that Gripens would be leased to bridge the gap left by M2K retirement. What is the reason for Gripen E deliveries starting 2020? And how can it enter service with the FAB 2 years before any are delivered? Something wrong here…