In January 2002 the President of Brazil Mr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso in official visit to Russia, the Brazilian Company Avibras were part of this oficial delegation had signed a cooperation agreement between the Russian company Sukhoi and Avibras company making this last one to represent the Su 35 Flanker in the competition for a new fighter to Brazilian Air Force, in general the purpose would be the assembly of the Su 35 in Brazil.

It’s pretty impressive that the Russians managed to participate in a contest with a product that did not exist at the time and was not proven for the next 6-7 years and even as of today, there is not a single operational squadron of Su-35s in VVS.

Makes you wonder, had the Brazilians selected the Su-35, when would they receive their first examples and what problems and shortcomings would come with them.

36 fighters of the caliber they seek rewrite the balance of power with their neighbors.

If 36 fighters would rewrite the balance of power for a country like Brazil, then what did 24 fighters for Venezuela rewrite?

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It’s a little discrete. Higher resolution here:

Iraq and the US have a “strategic framework agreement”… its just shy of a “defence treaty”, there are hundreds of US trainers/advisors in Iraq now, and I personally saw a column of US armour from Kuwait going ostensibly for some joint training with Iraqis a year and a half ago in the desert near Nassiriya (where I was working). So the actual military relationship between the two sides is good… and trust me, no one in Iraq wants to get into a war with the US… I don’t know if I can really emphasise this point more strongly!

At the same time the Iraqis are rather weary of having their army on the ground exposed to attack by enemy aircraft (perhaps readers would understand this point)… sadly, in a conventional confrontation the F16s would NOT be able to secure the airspace above the Iraqi Army ground units, nor protect Iraqi cities and strategic assets (oil assets / ports / power stations) from enemy air attacks. That is the problem in a nutshell.

I think it’s a little self-contradicting to claim a “US-Iraq strategic framework agreement” and at the same time argue that F-16iqs would be insufficient for deterrence. Maybe that agreement is far more deterring factor than any F-16. I mean, look at the map. Who in that area would dare to go to war with Iraq without US approving? Only Iran would, but they would then give the US a much sought-after excuse to intervene.

I understand what you are trying to convey and I am sorry but it is honestly rather paranoid. Is Iraq planning to go to war with Jordan or Kuwait?

This information is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if Iraq plans to go to war with Jordan or Kuwait. If indeed their intention is not to go to war with these two nations, that’s the deal now. Nobody can guarantee that that will be the deal tomorrow as well. Leaders can change, politics can change, international conditions can change. Remember it’s Middle East we’re talking about and this sort of thing happens all the time, it is not just theorizing.

well they have NOTHING now. So even a MiG15 is better!
1990 was 23 years ago!

Comparison should be made with Iraq’s neighbours ORBAT in 2020 when it comes to assess Iraq’s force build up needs… and by that metric the F16-IQ is, dare I say, JUNK.

many air forces have ordered F-16 Block 50/52 in recent years, some are taking deliveries as we speak. Obviously these airframes will stay in service for at least the next 25-30 years. An aircraft sold today can’t be called junk.

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BMP-3s to South Korea were also part of debt payment.