“mass-plink”… lol… I like it

Now the Adl’A also emphasies on cheap weapons with for instance the AASM… which is a good combination with Scalp/Apache.

Nic

Can I trash all three at once?

Nic

Eeeeek I read his nimitz class book and I found it horrible…

Well that’s discounting RWR though.

Nic

Yes talk about the RCS in BVR, it is my understanding that the radar dish of the Captor would leave a much bigger RCS than the modules of an ESA radar, that coupled with the fact that the raptor is bigger, and those huge air intakes…

I don’t know how the planes compare in RCS.

Nic

Nick,

“The issue here is I have yet to read arguments as to why (and in what area) the EF would be superior to the Rafale?”

The key area is BVR. The argument is that Typhoon has superior supersonic acceleration and better supersonic instantaneous turn rate. Bigger gimbal angle. Longer radar range. Longer reach with primary missile armament. Superior DVI, superior MMI, = superior SA.

Turn rate for BVR? What the heck do you need turn rate in a BVR engagement? I don’t see how a couple more degrees per second will be decisive in a BVR fight.

Superior Radar range? Let’s say, for the sake of the argument,that it has now against PESA RBE2, but the AESA RBE2 is going on nicely, and has a much improved range over the PESA RBE2, and I would guess, over the Captor.
Retrofitting AESA to the RBE2 is only about half a day’s work, so even if the AESA isn’t ready just yet, any export customer could expect it to be easily retrofitted to their planes soon as it’s indeed ready. So I won’t buy the “better radar” argument at all.

Lastly, longer reach with primary equipment?

What kind of Bull**** is that? The rafale can and will be equipped with the Meteor just as the EF will be. I’d venture that the Rafale will be even more versatile than the EF thanks to it’s IR and EM medium range Mica combination, and thanks to it’s “special” meteor. I don’t see how you could seriously claim an advantage of the EF when you know perfectly that they will both be equipped with the same missile.

DVI and MMI… please elaborate as to why you would consider thenm superior. Unlike my reply to your previous arguments, this is a guenine question, and I would sure like to know more about those.

Nic

I appreciate that you French Rafale fans want to believe that your country’s aircraft is clearly and incontravertibly the best. This is quite hard for an English journalist to understand, since I don’t have a problem with acknowledging that F/A-22 is a better AD aircraft than Typhoon, and that JSF will be a better ‘Day 1/Kick Down the Door’ attack aircraft, nor that Gripen is the best choice for the more cost conscious customer. National pride doesn’t enter into it, and I regard Typhoon as being a marginally better fighter aircraft than Rafale based on its potential capability and on certain key technologies, not on the basis of its national origin. And I’d acknowledge that the edge it enjoys is huge in some areas, marginal in some, and entirely absent in others. This is a considered and balanced view, and I’d suggest that it contrasts with the simplistic and crude view that Dassault are the world’s most experienced and talented fighter designers, and that Rafale is a ‘once in 30 year stroke of genius.’ As long as you guys are trying to prove such a silly and over-the-top contention, and as long as your pride makes it impossible to admit that the hated English, the Germans or the nouvelle Americans can do anything (anything, not everything) better than you can, the debate will remain ill-mannered, stupid and ultimately pointless.

The issue here is I have yet to read arguments as to why (and in what area) the EF would be superior to the Rafale? And even then you would be hard pressed to find any data regarding either planes that would actually sustain your claims. Unless you can provide relative detection ranges data, or ECM data, any claims regarding BVR superiority could not be substantiated.

Hearsay just won’t cut it. If you look carefully enough, you can find people saying absolutely whatever you want and it’s contrary. Esp when the sources are unnamed.

If someone says plane X should be better than plane Y at doing something, then I think it should be necessary to say why you think so.

Nic

How many of those 234 Rafales are on contract, again? The Typhoon umbrella contract covers all 620 jets, and production contracts have been signed for 420 (402 + 18).

Which is all the more impressive when you consider that the Rafale is probably just as capable as the EF, if not more in some areas.

Nic