Main as in first line, LCA is more of a LIFT second line aircraft.

that’s simply your (erroneous) opinion. otherwise you will be able to post proof for that statement won’t you ? 😉

I see two other possibilites.

India: Going with sea Gripen would allow the Indians to keep the smaller Vikrant hull for CATOBAR IAC-2/3 and provide a path for Vikrant herself to be refitted CATOBAR later in life. It would be much less expensive than the twin engine options to operate

I take it you haven’t heard of the NLCA.

considering it is not a proper fighter, it doesn’t even have a radar in this version I consider the price too high. it’s a good aircraft but should cost within 15-20 mil. twinblade, it can’t do air patrol or replace the mig-21 or f-4. in effect it’s a modern equivalent of the hawk.

Like R-40, Astra is a BVR IR guided missile.

Unlike R-40, Astra does not possess a huge warhead for killing supersonic B-70 bombers or huge, archaic 1960s vintage guidance electronics package.

Instead, Astra’s small warhead appears to be sized to defeat tactical airplanes and modern electronics shrink the size of the guidance package allowing use of a smaller aerodynamically efficient missile airframe and motor.

But the article contains inadequate information on missile speed, trajectory shaping (or not), midcourse corrections, sensor focal plane array size, and other stuff we like to see in an aviation enthusiasts’ forum.

Astra vs Mica IR anyone? Challenge, challenge…Hello Bueller?…anyone out there?

typical rookie mistake in first line. discussion is pointless after that. when you start making authoritative statements about a project without knowing even its basics, you risk making a fool of yourself, as you have done here. :diablo:

at the minimum read the wiki article on a topic before creating elaborate theories on it, here, start with the first line. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra_%28missile%29 even that would be educational for you.