OK so now the debate is about wether or not the Belgians have the right sort of missions in mind for their new fighter. Like performing SEAD far away from home. That’s debatable but they seem to have made up their mind already.

Point is though if the F-35 is not right because Belgians have no business being in the middle east etc, what is right? Probably not EF or Rafale. What they should buy if all they want to do is QRA at home is something significantly cheaper than all those 3. Too bad the only cheaper option is not on the table. Let’s face it, F-35, Rafale and EF are all in the same price range. So if they have to get a more expensive solution anyway, it seems logical to get the one which is suited best for out of area ops. I’m afraid EF is the worst of both worlds, too expensive for QRA, worst for operation sandbox. Rafale somewhere in the middle, F-35 the best solution.

Also, what about nuclear sharing. Officially it’s not part of the requirements, but what about unofficially? Does Belgium want to keep the nukes? If yes, why not just state in the requirements: aircraft must be able to deliver B61 and be done with it. Well maybe it’s in the secret bits. :very_drunk:

Anyway, more important than aircraft type imho is number of jets… 34 seems like below the absolute minimum. Didn’t the Dutch state 37 is the absolute minimum to cover QRA duties 24/7 and deploy 4 jets? They seem to realise now that 37 is not enough if the deployments become a regular thing. But again, if the choice is between F-35, EF and possibly Rafale, the budget won’t cover more than about 34 each.

What stores are currently cleared and used from Luftwaffe Tornados these days? ASSTA 3 is the latest upgrade right?

Link

It’s in German but the weapons list (“Bewaffnung”) should be pretty self-explanatory.
The latest upgrade is ASSTA 3.1 This pdf has some details. Again, in German, but you get the idea. ASSTA 4 may or may not follow, depends a lot on what the replacement is going to be I guess.
With ASSTA 3, all Tornado IDS and ECR will have the same software, so they should all be able to use all German weapons in theory. Minus the gun for the ECR obviously.
So that’s:
AIM-9L Sidewinder
IRIS-T
AGM-88B HARM
Taurus KEPD 350
GBU-24
GBU-54
Mk 82, 83, 84 and Matra dumb bombs

Kormoran 2 is still mentioned, but I’m pretty sure those have been retired.
B61 is not mentioned, but that’s cleared too – mods 3 and 4.

Swiss F-18 with 10 AMRAAMs and 2 Sidewinders, live weapons:

they asked for information about the F-15 and F-18, but not Rafale, while the Rafale is, factually, a more recent and fully operational design that has nothing to envy to these two (it would rather be the opposite, in fact)…

Well the F-18 offers an ideal replacement for the ECR Tornado in the form of the EA-18G, something the Rafale can’t offer.
The F-15 and E/F Hornets offer a huge number of integrated weapons, more than Rafale for sure. Even Taurus is available on the F-15.
But this is most likely only between F-35 and EF T4.

Germany will complete deliveries to home air force in 2018. No export orders to assemble. Good news is that it is possible Typhoon will be selected as Tornado strike aircraft replacement. But even if it is, will the order come soon enough to keep the FAL running without a break?

No way, unless they order immediately, and without further developments. Chances for that are around zero if you ask me. Germany doesn’t even have a government yet.

Would a break in assembly work render German FAL Typhoons much more expensive if the German government chose Typhoon to replace Tornado?

If the cost to keep the line warm would be added to procurement cost, sure. But a decision for EF would be purely political so cost and performance would not matter.

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In other news:
Tactical Air Force Wing 31 got its first GBU-48 bombs on Dec. 18. The wing is therefore finally combat ready in the A/G role. Link with pics.
13 years after Luftwaffe received the first jets, and 8 years after 31 Wing got its first jets.

I was thinking of Jacksonville in particular. AGS base can use the longer civilian runway in that case as well, true of many Guard bases.

Looks like they usually use the longer runway. If you check on google earth, you can see the cables and LCC areas are usually located adjacent to the longer runway.
Though in Jacksonville’s case, there doesn’t seem to be an LCC area, apart from that bit in the corner of both runways…

I’m not saying the F-35 requires all 8000 feet in bad weather. But you need lots more runway in bad weather, with heavy loads, when landing compared to taking off.

Btw. the 8000 feet requirement rules out only one current F-16/A-10 base, Warfield ANGB, which is only 7000 feet. So we know who won’t trade in their A-10s for F-35.

First female fighter pilot in Switzerland.

First lieutenant Fanny “Shotty” Chollet graduated from pilot school on PC-21 on Dec. 15. Moving to F-18s now, where she will train to become combat ready in 1 year.