The Eurofighter program cost more the Rafale program as a whole. Individually however it was far cheaper for the UK & Germany than it was for France.

Proof please.

Nevermind… canadian politeness I guess.

Eurofighter, Dassault and SAAB can thank the God´s that in 1997 the UAE and LM didnt convince the USAF to buy a pair of Sqn´s of the F-16U.
That thing would have the range and dynamic abilities to rival the two twin engined Eurocanards, it would have an acquisition cost somewhere in the Gripen/SH bracket, it would be available for export to the Midle East and it would be operational with an AESA a decade ago. It would have done an even better job than the F-35A in decimating the European jets external market.
The USAF would have enough funds to buy it in droves while keeping the F-22 production line pumping twenty airframes per year, the USMC and the RN would be screwed.

Being sarcastic doesn’t make you wrong :p

Or a prototype that lost the USAF ETF competition thirty two years ago and never hit production?!
Today the only Viper variant that is on the table it’s the “V” and LM is not going to offer the F16 to Canada.

Well it lost the ETF competition, but look what the F16XL would be now if it had been procured in numbers instead of newer variants of F16s (& not instead of the F15E). Say it replaces the F16 on the production line & the US sell abroad cheap refurbished F16s to replace them with F16XL as the USAF workhorse. Or the XL treatment could have been part of an upgrade.

+ 82% fuel compared to regular F16, which translates in 40% more range in the strike mission with twice the load. (wiki F16 XL page).

And in the air to air job, with its 4 semi recessed AIM 120D AMRAAMs + 2 wingtip AIM9X it would certainly be able to super-cruise with the latest iterations of the F110 with more range than a F16 with wet bags. Add 2 or 3 drop tanks or CFTs, like much of the block 50/52 & 60 fleet…

I can’t help but think about what a two seat F16XL with the spine & CFTs would look like in Greek, Israeli or UAE colours.

Nic

When you compare the empty weight of the Rafale to the empty weight of the F16, don’t forget to add the 900 pounds of the F16’s CFTs 😉

Add in a little drag & I doubt the F16 gets the same legs as the Rafale.

Nic

Well 8 or 9 billion should be way enough to purchase 36 Rafales + a good deal of weapons, if you shave off some of the most ludicrous demands of liability on domains where Dassault has little or no control.

Nic

You’d think it would include enhancements found on the crashed sample in Abbottabad.

I think it’s better to copy something that didn’t crash. :angel:

Where did I say buffeting was a strong point? Oh right, I didn’t. I would say that, unless it interferes with completing a mission or accelerates airframe ageing, that buffeting is at worst neutral. Several former (and current) pilots have pointed out that buffet behavior is a good way to “feel” where the aircraft is at in a crucial moment.

You haven’t but the dude in the article sure did. Now it’s awesome that those pilots have buffeting providing some kind of warning before departure. Or else you get a eurocanard which has carefree handling hence no departure hence no “need” for buffeting.

Nic