Two pages of whining about the cost of “defending the realm” vs. other priorities and not a word about the damage done to the treasury, the armed forces, and British national security as a consequence of the ill-conceived War of Terror in particular, and the UK’s ongoing pretense of being a global ‘playa’ in general.

Japan spends less than the UK on its military and operates more than twice as many major surface combatants (and that’s if Type 26 numbers aren’t cut, which they probably will be) and soon twice as many submarines and combat aircraft as well. One is a nation interested in defending itself (against a real threat I might add, as opposed to the total absence of threats facing the UK) on a budget, the other is just an old bully with a glass jaw, hiding behind Washington’s skirts, basking in Washington’s reflected glory, and praying nobody ever peeks behind the curtain.

The high cost may be justified as a high-end asset, but it raises questions about Russia’s future force structure. China is producing J-10s, and is developing the J-31.

I think it has been established beyond doubt now that J-31 is a purely SAC venture with no PLA backing or (currently) requirement. I think it is entirely possible that China will not induct a smaller complement to J-20 in future, but rather go in the other direction a la F-15E/Su-34/FB-22. Continued production and evolution of J-10 will suffice to provide an inexpensive option in the shorter term, i.e. over the next decade.

As for Russia, MiG-35 will come online at some point to provide a somewhat smaller aircraft.

Afterburner would still be useful for acceleration, rate of climb, maintaining/recovering energy while maneuvering, etc.

Er, everybody spies on everybody that’s for sure, however, it is strange that, if the Rafale is just a result of spying on americans, does stuff that even american jets don’t while using the aerodynamic formula that no american jet uses either like the canard delta, or uses fully integrated electronic warfare suite inside the airframe, engines with reduced IR signature by bypassing a load of air around it, and so on which american jets don’t use as well… oh wait, one american jet uses several of these… the F-35 (inegrated electronics, airflow bypassing the engine to cool it down…)… maybe it is the americans who copied the french? 😀 )

I never suggested that Rafale was “just” the result of espionage conducted against the United States. Espionage is a force multiplier, a way to make limited budgets go further and to more effectively compete with those having greater resources and comparable or greater expertise. The most cost-effective R&D is the kind you don’t have to pay for.

This supposedly revelatory article on FGFA echoes the same nonsensical criticisms we have been hearing for years. The clearest example being that of the engine, where 117A has not only always been an explicitly temporary solution, but moreover has never been attached to the FGFA project. It would be like arguing against Australia acquiring F-35A because of problems with F-35C’s arrestor hook.

My suspicion — as mentioned earlier — is that this is a deliberate PR campaign waged by IAF (and probably Dassault) designed to make backing out of MMRCA less palatable for the Indian government by rubbishing the obvious alternatives. If this is so, then the campaign should cease once the contract for MMRCA is signed — or once it has been definitely buried.

but with the french market (i.e. budget) being quite small, they have to use money wisely. That’s why I find the Rafale so impressive, with such a budget reaching that level of performance in all domains (aerodynamics, FCS, ECM/ELINT, and so on…)

Spying on the Americans (principally) helps. That’s not a criticism — it is simply how the world works. France would be foolish not to take advantage of all that expensive R&D done across the Atlantic. India too should develop and deploy her espionage capabilities so as to accelerate national development in areas of strategic interest.

Well in any case, if we are talking new builds the Chinese side of the acquisition will certainly provide PN with a modern and valuable capability. By all accounts China has become highly adept at designing and building SSKs.

Selling older boats to Pakistan sounds like a good way for China to maintain SSK development, production and fleet modernisation. I had wondered what they were going to do about that eventually, given that they’re up to 40+ modern SSKs.

I wonder what boats China and Pakistan are looking at … late 035s or early 039s? The Kilos will probably have to be flogged off elsewhere when the time comes. I think they were trying to offload the 877 Kilos to Indonesia a couple years back.