For what it’s worth, a little while back I asked a CPMIEC official about the YJ-83 and their supersonic missile developments in general.

I got an exasperated denial that a YJ-83 existed – not evasion (knowing, or otherwise). I showed the CCTV image of the row of missiles all marked ‘YJ-83’ and was told, “yes I have seen this picture too. You must understand that sometimes things are not as they seem. There is no such thing as YJ-83.”

Fair enough, I said, and moved on to something else.

YS

The true importance of the Coyote programme is that it keeps the VFDR engine alive and funded – that ensures that VFDR remains available for future air-to-air ramjet missiles.

The US is waking up to the fact it is going to need some bigger, better AAMs and VFDR is the fastest way to make it happen. The Meteor is not going to have it all its own way any more…

YS

Did Sweden buy the Spice for it’s Gripens like she did with the Phyton 4?

!!??

Sweden did not buy the Python 4 and has not bought Spice either.

Both are export weapons options for the Gripen and were offered to Chile, among others.

YS

The RNoAF intends to purchase a number of GPS-guided weapons for its F-16AM3s

Viper

Interesting designation – can you expand a little?

I assume an AM3 is a jet with the MLU Phase 3 software load?

Can you explain what that entails and if there has been a sequence of AM1 and AM2 designations – even if they are just unofficial shorthand.

What comes next?

YS

One jet broke almost immediately and they had to send out the spare.

And is the stop in Saudi on the way out, or on the way back?

YS

Folks

Before we get too carried away here, you need to understand that the latest burst of excited reports about Pakistan’s imminent Gripen deal are works of pure fiction.

There is no order. There are no contract negotiations. There is not even a request from Pakistan.

I am reading fantastic stories in the Pakistan press – all without a single quote or named source – reporting that a deal is about to be done for 60 jets (up from 40 the first time!!) with deliveries in six months.

These reports are total rubbish.

What has happened is this – President Musharraf is on an official visit to Sweden. During this visit Sweden’s Prime Minister Persson did say that he understood Pakistan was looking at options for future fighters and that the Gripen would be one possible alternative. At the same time he stated explicitly that there had been NO discussion of a Gripen deal during the President’s visit, that no deal has ever been discussed, that no approval for export has been given by the Swedish authorities and that such export approval has not even been requested or discussed.

People at Saab are falling around laughing at these reports.

YS

Taj

I would put it to you that both are official names as Ireland has a dual language policy, but if one is speaking and writing English (and sometimes it’s hard to be sure here) then writing Aer Corp is just plain wrong.

On every level.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you point out how tight the delivery schedule is – on this timetable there is no way that the AB139 will be available in time. There is no military variant flying yet, only air show mockups. As you rightly say, the Dauphin experience will make the Air Corps loathe to be a lead operator again. The Deepwater aircraft are still far off in the future.

Sadly, I think the scope of this rotary wing fleet rationalisation is a clear pointer that no large aircraft are going to be procured anytime soon. The contractorised SAR operations maybe expensive but they come out of another budget with none of the upfront costs that so horrify government accountants. The best that the Air Corps can hope for is that these new helicopters will be another rung on the ladder to regaining a modern, capable fleet. However, the acquisition of the PC-9s shows us that even though there is a drive towards modernisation and renewal, it is still limited.

The new helicopters *will* be a mix of Eurocopter aircraft – EC 135s and something larger, possibly (but not definitely) EC 635s. But I guess we’ll know for sure before too long.

YS

The short answer to this is that Pakistan is not about to order Gripens – Pakistan has not even asked to buy Gripens. There has been a low-level expression of interest in the Gripen from Pakistan – as there has been with many nations – but no formal request has ever been made to Sweden for the possible supply of aircraft.

While Gripen International (the worldwide sales and support organisation) is a UK/Swedish JV, and BAE owns 35 per cent of Saab, the agreement of the Swedish government is paramount to any Gripen sale – and the Swedish government hasn’t even been asked.

It’s also VERY unlikely to agree, as several other posters have pointed out – not least because the Gripen people won’t want to see their Gucci technology handed over to China.

YS