Probably a lot more than the original F-22, the original one has a unit price of some 150mn, this one somnehting like 180-200 probably.

Yes Avro Arrow would’ve been the greatest could’ve been. It was just really advanced. I think The Novi Avion and especially the Lavi would’ve been a success if they were put into production, I mean both Yugoslavia and Israel would’ve sold everything to everyone, and no political strings attached. I would’ve said the Novi Avion would’ve had better export orders than any other Eurocanard, and Lavi would’ve probably had better export orders than maybe M2K if I am exaggarrating a bit too much.

Wow awesome tips guys. I was wondering about more of these airline sponsored programs and how they work and who offers them and how to get into them. My friend got accepted by one of those programs by Lufthansa but as it appears he was forced to quit it for some reason, I really have no idea how he got accepted into it. I am also from Canada.

Srbin,
Have you not listened to anything anyone else has tried to tell you?

The K-8 has speed over the ALX and that’s about it. The 150 mph speed advantage the K-8 has over the ALX isn’t going to make it any safer against weapons like the SA-7 or SA-14 than the ALX. In fact, I dare say the ALX is in better shape because of its lower heat signature. The most common MANPAD, the SA-7 is an older generation tail-chase weapon, and I’d imagine knocking down an ALX with one would be quite a challenge. A K-8’s hot jet engine would make a much nicer target for any MANPAD.

And what exactly is your definition of slow? The ALX can hit about 350 mph. That’s not very slow in my book. Compared to an F-5 or AMX yes its slow, but as some of us pointed out, it is able to operate much safer when following a possible drug aircraft than say the K-8 would.

Additionally, the ALX is also much more agile than the K-8, and therefore is a better performer for the roles mentioned. Faster jets can perform missions like CAS, but history has shown us that “slow & steady” wins the race…..take the A-1 Skyraider over Vietnam as an example. The A-1 was much better at close support and CSAR missions than fast jets like the F-4 or F-100. It was able to loiter in the area for much longer periods of times, and I guartanee you that the ALX would be able to remain on station for much longer than the K-8.

And if you give the K-8 the same avionics the ALX has, its only going to get more expensive. Why waste money on something thats less effective at the required mission. Remember, the ALX was designed to handle these types of roles. It’s going to be much better suited to completing the mission than a K-8 that was stuffed with the same avionics.

The ALX is a nice, advanced, well-equipped aircraft for the COIN mission, the FAC mission, the light attack and light CAS missions, as well as drug interdiction.

Yahh all true, I guess i missed some of those points, thx though.

I was wrong, I admitt it, Super Tucano is better than K-8 at Drug Interdiction and COIN.

Also I was wondering, how survivable would the Super Tucano be against some MANPADS lets say that the drug dealers might have? It sure is pretty slow.

Greek Navy is obviously the strongest, it would be able to spank all the Balkan Navies combined together. Former Yugoslavia did not have a bad Navy at all I believe which is now obsolete. I am really not aware of the Romanian or Bulgarian Navies but I don’t think they are any good nor they need to be.

I do not agree with you.
It is not a limited turbo prop aircraft. It has the latest state of the art avionics available, quite advanced, data link, HOTAS, glass cockpit, NVG capable. Also capable of firing AAM (Sidewinder class of missiles such as the Brazilian Piranha), two .50 machine guns, one on each wing, capable of 1.5 tons of ordnance, including PGM. It´s cheaper to operate than the K-8 and for FAB needs, has all avionics that are currently being applied to the fleet of F-5s and AMXs and in the future to the new fighter.
As in the amazon region, all drug dealers did not use fast transports jets, it fits perfectly for the mission. Colombia and Peru has a huge success in downing drug transports aircrafts with its armed versions Tucanos (AT-27).
FAB tested in the past its fighter jets in intercepting small airplanes and the results were not so good.
FAB has at least 12 two seaters AMXs. If funds permit, we will be acquiring another batch of AMXs which will bring the total of 15 two seaters (in fact one was lost in an accident)

Well I did not really suggest the K-8 but just used it as an example. Also what kind of PGMs can the Super Tucano carry?

The K-8 in Brazilian serivce….lol.

That’s a funny thought to me.

In any case it would be totally pointless for Brazil not to use the ALX. It’s a perfect airplane for the drug interdiction mission for the reasons A-29 pointed out.

Brazil has years of experience on the Tucano so its only natural that the Super Tucano be the next step up. It will be much cheaper than the K-8 would be to operate.

Cheap seems to be an “in vogue” term on this board nowadays….at least all the Chinese/Russian supporters love it. It’s a fine idea, when buying something, but you also have to have general upkeep and maintenance costs, and in this case the ALX beats out the K-8.

The ALX is also intended to be used for other missions that the K-8 wouldn’t likely be very good at, such as COIN, FAC, light attack duties. It’s quite well armed, with a wide variety of stores including proven weapons like the GBU-12 whereas the K-8…well it’s not even intended to be a combat aircraft like the A-29 is.

The AT-29 two-seater also has a night attack capability….something I’m certain the K-8 would lack.

And what makes the K-8 automatically a better trainer?

Just used it as an example of a fast jet trainer thats able to intercept fast drug jets, something a turbo prop is unable to do.

Yes the Super Tucano would be significantly cheaper to operate, but for COIN and in some cases Drug Interdiction roles, you must have a fast response time, the Super Tucano clearly lacks the speed to get there.