For what I know actual level of military spending of Russian federation is about 3% of GDP
And please, just compare the average age of their planes with the ones of USAF and prepare yourself for a surprise.

As I said, >4% even before Ukraine and Syria. Whilst I can’t locate data past 2012, it’s been as high as 8% between 2012 and present. So when you compare with countries like Germany spending 1%, and UK 2%, it kind of puts things in perspective. Imagine if Germany or the UK quadrupled military spending or even doubled it. Twice as much equipment, whole host of new abilities too but you could never sell that to European voters.

Su-24s, Su-25s. It’s not just the old aircraft, it’s the fact most haven’t been brought up to modern standards. For newish fighters, you’re looking at Su-35s and Su-30s and that’s about it. The speed of Su-35 production has been very slow, so much so that assuming the PAK-FA reaches production standard in 2020, it will take until 2035 before they have as many PAK-FAs as there are F-22s now.

@JSR 3% my bottom. It was over 4% even before Ukraine and Syria.

Dropping bombs with old aircraft in undefended airspace doesn’t prove anything. And if the West simply stopped sending manufacturing to China it would hardly even have an economy, or anything to knock-off.

From what I heard it was more to do with shared IP on the EJ200. IR reduction features are mostly over-rated, the reductions are marginal at best.

EJ200 is mostly a British design based on the Rolls-Royce XG-40 technology demonstrator split for the purposes of work share.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurojet_EJ200

Rolls-Royce began development of the XG-40 technology demonstrator engine in 1984.[1] Development costs were met by the British government (85%) and Rolls-Royce.[2]
On 2 August 1985, Italy, West Germany and the UK agreed to go ahead with the Eurofighter. The announcement of this agreement confirmed that France had chosen not to proceed as a member of the project.[3] One issue was French insistence that the aircraft be powered by the SNECMA M88, in development at the same time as the XG-40.[4]

The Eurojet consortium was formed in 1986 to co-ordinate and manage the project largely based on XG-40 technology. In common with the XG-40, the EJ200 has a three-stage fan with a high pressure ratio, five-stage low-aspect-ratio high-pressure (HP) compressor, a combustor using advanced cooling and thermal protection, and single-stage HP and LP turbines with powder metallurgy discs and single crystal blades. A reheat system (afterburner) provides thrust augmentation. The variable area final nozzle is a convergent-divergent design.

The numbers have been on the brochure already and they were not good.

https://saab.com/globalassets/commercial/air/gripen-fighter-system/gripen-for-brazil/pdf-gripen-ng/gripen-ng-brochure.pdf

True but the politicians in Europe pushing things think different. They will sacrifice local industry on the alter of Europe.

Don’t be so sure about that. There are a lot of problems ahead. Argument with Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic over refugee allocations, new funding split to be agreed after Brexit. Asking nations to sacrifice local industry on top of that will be a big issue.

How it come than Russia has still the second largest air force of the world and overall military forces superior to the ones of the (others) five greater European nations efficency

Lot of really old planes and spends 8% of GDP on defence.

I’m fairly sure we know how it spread so fast now, just waiting to find out how it started.

I wouldn’t be completely surprised if it turned out to arson yet.

I agree though Tony. If a light bulb blows, do you change it, or spend time talking to people about how dark it is?