Belgium has a close collaboration with the Netherlands on fighter aircraft I believe, so F-35 is no doubt the most likely selection.

Yes the Benelux countries (not to forget Luxembourg) share QRA duties since the beginning of 2017, the Belgian and Dutch air forces take turns in providing the QRA jets.
Belgium like the Netherlands is also part of the NATO nuclear sharing program. If the want to keep it that that way, the F-35 is the only realistic option. F-18E/F, EF Typhoon and Gripen are all not nuclear capable IIRC, Rafale only with French stuff.

One of them has to be Stavatti, surely :very_drunk:

Its longer than than an F-35A, it has a bigger wing than an F-35A and it has three internal bays…

But the F-35 is short and narrow for its weight. Anyway weight is the only dimension that matters when classifying aircraft. At 10 tons, it would be much lighter than F-35 and thus belongs in a different class. That’s EF/Rafale/Hornet/Mig-29/J-10 class – I’d call that medium class. As in MMRCA :highly_amused:

It is true that no “growler” variant of Gripen exist — however Brazil is developing a missile for the SEAD role, so unless they plan to purchase a separate plane for this role they may be open to codevelop this further. As for weight — it would be a “growler lite”; second, it would use GaN modules that Saab already master; I am no expert but I believe the GaN offer quite good performance at much reduced power requirements?

Firing ARM’s does not make an electronic warfare aircraft. Every Hornet can fire ARM’s but the Growler is a bit more complex. An EJAS 39G requires a lot more co-developing and thus money.
It would not carry 3 big jammer pods like the Growler but something smaller would work surely, I agree. A couple of tanks and a couple of missiles leaves enough payload for some ECM equipment.

If purchased these would be operated by the USAF…. don’t expect any crowd pleasing paint schemes.

Expect something like this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]251746[/ATTACH]
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/combat-dragon-ii-demonstrates-ov-10g-bronco-capabilities/

I know it compares well with what everybody else is carrying but an external pod isn’t limited space available within the airframe so why not design a larger gun pod? When you considering its likely uses the extra weight wouldn’t have mattered very much. 220 rounds isn’t much compared to what the old 20mm gun pods could carry for example.

There really isn’t more space under the F-35. The gun pod sits between the weapon bay doors and in front of the hook/swiveling nozzle doors.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]251716[/ATTACH]

Replying here.

MAWS = EODAS, in what universe? MASW is just a warning devise that at best tells you a general direction of in inbound missile.

These are features of EODAS that MAWS does not do:
1. Provide YATO (You Are The One) functionality which tells the F-35 if the threat is headed for him or not.
2. Track all airborne objects (SAMs, AAM, planes, drones, AAA) within the WVR environment
3. Allow for the guidance of HOBS missiles
4. Act as a replacement for NVGs in order to see around the aircraft in low light conditions.
5. Organic BDA, regardless of the angle of the plane
6. Visual quing of detected objects from GMTI and SAR maps
7. Fully fused into the battlespace

—EODAS gets with a software update (ie it’s been demonstrated but not part of Block 3F)
1. TBM tracking to include GeoLocation of the launcher
2. Detection of ground fires (with Geolocation) to include MGs, RPGs, Arty, MLRS, etc

Those features don’t require additional sensors, they are software driven functions. Adding them doesn’t require more space and hardware. Well mabye a little for increased processing power.

“F-16E/F internal FLIR” = IRST yes, FLIR no

In both cases (MAWS & FLIR) they are not completely fused.

Even better if the F-16E/F sensor turret were actually an IRST. But I’m pretty sure it’s a wide angle FLIR for navigational purposes. Basically, they repackaged the LANTIRN system: TFR to be handled by AESA radar or omitted, Nav FLIR above the nose, targeting laser and IR sensors into a new pod. A vain endeavour in hindsight, thanks to Sniper et al pods.
Anyway, the space is there to put an IRST on the nose.
Fusion is again software driven.