Explain how the hell a bubble canopy automatically increases aerodynamic drag.

bigger canopy versus smaller canopy. which one will have greater frontal area.

It seems F-16 and MIG-29 will have to really lower price than M2K to win this won. and i think both are cheaper than M2K for equal tech. so it balances out.

House panel against F-16s

New Delhi, April 26: A bipartisan political consensus is emerging against the acquisition of American F-16 fighter planes. The parliamentary standing committee on defence has advised the government not to add to the already large number of aircraft types used by the Indian Air Force. The government should stick to acquiring types that are already in use, the committee has suggested.

The committee views on the American offer are contained in its report on the budgetary demand for grants, tabled in Parliament on Monday. In the section dealing with the Air Force, the committee notes, he Air Force has 26 different types of aircraft which require different types of infrastructure to operate. The committee feel that there is need to check the large inventory and acquire as far as possible similar type of aircraft as have been already in service with the Air Force.?

At present the Air Force inventory includes various versions of Russian planes such as MiG and Sukhoi, British Jaguars and French Mirages.?The report goes on to stress that the facilities already created hould be put for optimum use before any further investment is made in such projects.?This is a reference to the submission of a non-official expert before the committee regarding the difficulties of creating new infrastructure every time the Air Force acquires a new type of aircraft.

The expert told the committee that the purchase of a new aircraft type means spending a huge amount on infrastructure, such as air bases, maintenance facilities, etc. When the Air Force bought the Mirage planes, the Air Force established a base for 150 planes. Only 40 were bought, so capacity for 110 is lying unutilised. Then, when the Air Force went in for SU-30s, a completely new infrastructure had to be created in Pune for these planes.?t is very complicated and expensive infrastructure. Now, if you go in for the F-16s, you have to set up a totally different infrastructure,?he said
Deccan Chronicle Group
April 27, 2005

further about production. this will be sore point for GA hoping to cut production after F-16.

(c) 2005 Forecast International, Inc./DMS.

NEWTOWN, Conn. – Although the United States has offered it F-16s, Pakistan is moving ahead with plans to manufacturer the Chinese JF-17 fighter aircraft. Washington’s announcement that it would sell F-16s to Pakistan is seen as a reward for Islamabad’s assistance in the U.S.-led war on global terrorism.

Pakistan officially launched the joint production of JF-17 fighter with China on April 4. This aircraft is known as the FC-1 and Super 7 in China. Chinese officials claim the JF-17’s performance is similar to the F-16, a claim that is doubted by many observers. As part of this deal, China is expected to provide Pakistan with new air-to-air missiles, including beyond-visual-range systems.

The aircraft may be equipped with the new SD-10 medium-range air-to-air missile. The SD-10 is the export designation for China’s R129 missile. This missile was developed by Leihua Electronic Technology Research Institute (LETRI), possibly in cooperation with CATIC. The short-range air-to-air missile need of this aircraft could be met with the PL-9.

another view from interfax with no mention of any export controls . it seems sources are giving different versions of story to different news organizations. and it is not secondary source. I believe Israel playing some role in radar development.

About 500 RD-93 aircraft engines to be delivered to China

MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax-AVN) – China plans to procure from Russia about 500 RD-93 aircraft engines, designed to be mounted on Chinese FC-1 Super-7 fighters, a source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.

“The contract on delivering the first batch of 100 RD-93s to China has already been signed. The Klimov Plant and the Moscow-based Chernyshev Engineering Enterprise are now fulfilling the contract,” the source said.

He noted that the RD-93 was based on the RD-33 aircraft engine, mounted on MiG-29-family fighters. The new engine has already undergone tests, including those on the Super-7 fighter, and is completely ready to be launched into mass production.

According to the source, the RD-93 delivery contract does not envision licensed production at Chinese plants.

The source did not specify the cost of the contract on delivering 100 RD-93s to China, saying that the contract had been signed by the Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trader. However, he pointed out that the cost of a single engine amounted to about $2.5 million.

The RD-93 features all the advantages of the baseline engine. Given a weight of 1,055 kg the new engine has a thrust of 5,040 kgf without afterburner, and 8,300 kgf in the full afterburner mode. Given a high gas-dynamic resistance to external interference, including that created by armament, the RD-93 does not impose any limitations on the aircraft flight technique or missile employment.

The major feature of the new engine consists in a high thrust increase, which is of paramount importance to a tactical fighter. The source did not rule out the feasibility that RD-93s might be fitted with the thrust-vector control nozzle later on, which would provide Super-7 fighters with super-maneuverability.

Pakistan, Israel, and Russia participate in the Chinese FC-1 Super-7 fighter development

Sens,

The reliability of Pakistani missiles is in doubt because they require constant external help for upkeep. There is little evidence that Pakistan has the ability to build a small enough n-warhead to fit into the their Chinese-sourced missiles like the Shaheen-I and II. They probably have a warhead for the Ghauri, which North korea made just to fit a big, crude fission warhead. but the Ghauri has been having issues since the N.Korea link was cutoff due to US pressure.

For an aircraft based n-platform, do you think a Mirage-III has a better chance of pentrating enemy air defenses or an F-16?

from where you got any evidence for Shaheen?
Mirage has the speed and once you put capable radar on it.it can look around almost the same distance.
F-16 is more for interception and has very rapid response time for start to maximun speed and height. but that is moot point in nuke delivery.

The question was raised as to why India would care about twenty-some F-16s. Any time your enemy acquires more potential nuclear delivery systems, you sit up and take notice.

You are completely missing the point about F-16. it is not about 20 F-16 but the explicit threat of giving free more(state department spokeman put it unlimited numbers) to PAF unless India buys US defense equipment kick out Russia and France. thats the whole point. once F-16 thing is announced the whole scenario has changed.

China has been trying to move itself to the realm of responsible nations. It is highly unlikely that it will publicly break contracts and **** off Russia just to sell a few cheap aircrafts to Pakistan.

Otherwise China will end up encouraging those in Europe who oppose any arms sales to China because of end user limitation issues.

Russia is not going to be pissed off. more exports more revenues from RD series engine to Russia. They are going to be pissed off if there traditional client of 50 years doesnot buy enough from them :diablo:
You are hoping against hope on this issue.
untill this point there is nothing to stop PAF from chosing Kopyo radar 😀