If Japan tried to go the RR/GE route they would say goodbye to having those F-35s before 2020. Also, the additional funding needed to finish F136 R&D would double or triple the price of their F-35 purchase not to mention the increased lifetime costs due to the small economy of scale issue.

The primary Cs are C1,3,& 7. All current AMRAAM production is either C7 or D.

FY2012 budget has 218/363/341/364/279 (FY 2012-2016 USAF 120Ds), 161/210/216/244/232 (FY 2012-2016 USN 120Ds), and 250 each year (2012-2016 FMS C7s).

As point-defense becomes better, you may need more SDB type weapons to overwhelm the defenses.

Every AMRAAM since the first C has the software installed to be air-launched or ground-launched. To answer your questions, it depends on what missile is purchased, but the C-7 is being used (IIRC) in the latest systems.

Besides the longer range of the AMRAAM over the RBS23, there is also the issue of networking, Tracking & development.

Networking: Depending on the model of AMRAAM, pre-launch and post-launch updates can come from a variety of sources (even if LOS from the launching vehicle is lost).

Tracking: Being a laser guided missile, the RBS23 gives it’s position away as soon as it tries to acquire the target. The missile itself will lose the track of the target goes behind a hill, into a cloud, etc. OTOH, an AMRAAM can be continue to track a target after it maneuvers as stated above.

Development: All development ro improve the RBS23 has to come from the program itself. The AMRAAM, OTOH, enjoys a massive user & development base that will keep improvements coming for many years to come. There is already a new motor on the way that will improve weight, speed, and range performance.

I hope they win and find out what political BS was working in the background.

My bet, the Big “O” was trying to buy favor in Brazil in order to get a better chance of teh F-18 winning its bid.

I think the 6 high definition IIR cameras (backed up by the processing power of the ICP) will help significantly over any previous fisheye based MAWS. IIRC no other MAWS mfg has claimed the ability to track any SAM or AAA flight trajectory.