It is probably impolitic to point out that Scotland would be well advised to free-ride on UK capabilities without contributing to their upkeep, to the greatest extent practicable, in much the same way that most NATO nations free-ride on the United States. The Americans have been whining about European defence spending for decades, and have recently turned up the volume. But it has and always will come to nothing because the notion of allowing someone else to pay the bills is rather compelling for politicians attempting to balance their budgets. And so would it be for Scotland.

Roovialk isn’t actually interested in Chinese aerospace developments, only in information that reinforces his preferred narrative of continued western superiority.

How much is a “ton” of money? Collins and Erickson noted an investment of “US$1.53 billion into jet engine research and development over the next 5 years” beginning in 2011.

That’s a pittance when the PRC’s investment in high speed rail was $90B in 2009 alone.

It isn’t really fair to compare the two when the great majority of HSR spending is in construction & manufacturing rather than research & development.

More recently (Feb 2013) there was a report of China preparing to invest $16bn in aircraft engine development.

I think it is safe to say that China is taking such development very seriously and that over the coming decade we will see a transformation both in China’s raw capabilities in this field, and its global competitiveness.

In any case, even if there has been a recent hiatus in production that could just as easily be a good thing, i.e. retooling for an improved variant.

Pinkov is an idiot with zero credibility on China matters.

US approves 3 UH-60M Black Hawks, spares and associated equipment for sale to Brazil for $145 million

$50m for a Blackhawk. What a bargain.

The only way Tejas is going to be 100% indigenous is by picking up engine production, which EF consortium can do. Dassault cannot.

If Eurofighter were really offering to transfer the entire EJ200 engine and all associated design and production technologies to India, that would actually be worth considering. But it’s also a complete fantasy.

That the Germans are desperate to make a sale goes without saying, as therefore does their lobbying of new government ministers. But it will all come to nought, for the simple reason that if Rafale was the best choice two years ago, it is an infinitely stronger choice today vs. the alternative of starting an equally tortured negotiating process all over again. The only world in which Typhoon — or anything else for that matter — has the slightest chance is the world in which Modi and co. are entirely incompetent and willing to sacrifice not only the operational capabilities of the IAF, but also the technology benefits MMRCA promises to deliver to Indian industry. Far more likely is that they are simply smiling and nodding and stringing the Germans along for the sake of diplomacy as they line up other deals that are and will happen anyway, regardless of MMRCA.

* Given that abandoning the domestic production and technology transfer side of things is the only way they could hope to conclude negotiations any faster than has been the case with Dassault.

Alternatively, instead of tabloid gossip we could focus on sourced statements from those in positions in power, such as those from Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha to the effect of “get lost, Eurofighter” and the recent statement from DM Jaitley to the effect that Dassault’s offer is compliant with India’s ToT requirements. Alas, relying on credible, sourced information tends to paint a rather different picture than the one that emerges from the tabloid gossip machine — whether the topic be Rafale, Tejas, or FGFA.

Thanks for this detailed reply totoro.

I had imagined that China would maintain 3 types in production, with J-20 replacing JH-7 at the appropriate time, but as you say the latter has been quiet recently, and with J-16 entering the picture it’s possible we may already have seen the end of JH-7 production. Still, it seems unlikely that J-20 will replace either J-10 or J-15/16 in production, so a return to three types in production may only be a few years away.