The Gripen-NG should have lower operating cost than Gripen-C, according to SAAB, BTW.. F414 engine with higher MTBO, AESA radar with high MTBF, etc.

Of course, and people accuse L-M of being masters of B.S. marketing claims. Beginning to wonder if they have Unicorns in Sweden.

A much heavier aircraft, powered by an engine with the highest SFC of any comparable turbofan there is hard data for, sure much cheaper than the “C”. Gripen NG fueled by dreams since 2012, but it is the worlds first “sixth gen fighter” so I guess we can’t judge it’s being late and overweight too harshly (because it’s not the F-35).

Quote Originally Posted by FBW
Multiple recent foreign contests have shown that the F-35 is cheaper to buy, maintain, & upgrade than the Eurofighter.

Vnomad- For a new customer like Belgium or Denmark sure. For an existing EF operator like Germany, where much of the fixed infrastructure as well as the training & maintenance pipelines already exist, ordering additional EFs is quite likely to be cheaper, at the moment.

How did my name get quoted with Spud’s post? I don’t think I agree with that 100%. I do think that there is enough evidence from recent contract to support the notion that the F-35 is cheaper to purchase. I don’t believe we will get a clear picture of CPH or overall O&S costs for a few more years.

Sea Harrier, yes, but that was not operational in the ’70s.
Harrier is a neat aircraft, but it is best thought as a Skyhawk with STOVL capability, it’s capabilities were quite limited

Never thought comparing any aircraft in the 60’s and 70’s to the scooter would be a knock. Speaking of which…. The A-4 got no mention for the 60’s or 70’s. A capable light attack aircraft that could provide a reasonable air defense capability (and did for the Aussies on their carrier , Argentinian A-4’s weren’t armed with AAM, I think). Brazil was using them for air defense on their carrier until it’s decommissioning.

https://www.airspacemag.com/military-aviation/the-hotrod-squad-5846400/?page=1
Great article on the A-4, roll rate still obscene by modern standards (720 degrees per second, by comparison- Rafale 270 degrees/sec, Typhoon 250, F-16 240, all at 1g) number on Typhoon unofficial, will have to see where that number came from.

Additional note- modern FCS will limit roll rate after the first 90 degrees, and are load factor dependent. The F-16 has a full deflection roll rate of 324 degrees on a bank to 90. The number mentioned for the A-4 is likely max roll rate after a few complete rolls, the initial roll rate for those modern aircraft is probably better than the A-4, but still.

K, not going to even engage on this. Personally, don’t think it matters much to the dead if they were incinerated in a bomb blast or choked by gas, or died of shrapnel.

War is dirty and civil wars more so. Just find the excuses and conspiracy theories disgusting.it happened it was the Syrian gov. Live with it.

Anyway, help me understand this.. The combat radius of a Tornado launched from Italy is roughly enough to reach the western part of Ukraine. Even in case of emergency they will never have reached Russia (unless assuming a kamikaze type mission).. What’s the use of free-fall nukes, then?

Tactical nukes, not strategic. They wanted to be able to counter the WarPac conventional advantage. NATO also didn’t differentiate between chemical/bio weapons and nukes. Idea was strike aircraft with free fall nukes would act as a deterrent for Soviet chemical/bio use on battlefield.

These days, no idea. Only UK, France, US have strategic deterrence in West. Old ideas die hard perhaps.

Fool, so you didn’t even read the links like the original story I posted above about the Florida f-16 parts. You just read f-16.net and assumed you knew what you were talking about…..facts. Do your homework, read people’s posts and links before looking like an a*s.

Everything you posted about the US denying the upgrade is known by every freaking person who follows aviation or defense news. Apparently you missed the last decade where they didn’t give away the F-16’s and are still flying them. Doesn’t take a genius to find that out, though being able to read Spanish and look beyond one aviation site that pretty much everyone knows about helps…homework.

So now it’s obvious from your above post that you didn’t actually click on my links or you wouldn’t have been so stupid to quote an story from f-16.net that I had already posted the original of, go back and click on my other link. Are they or are they not still flying air policing missions with F-16’s?

Wrong, wrong. Use google photos from this fall show them flying with the litening and pythons. Never said they acquired them recently. BUT they are still flying and there have been rumors they were getting support AFTER 2006 from Israel, and that they’ve been able to get parts via black market. Or just look for recent photos of them flying.

Happens more than u think:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/south-floridians-charged-with-selling-f-16-parts-to-the-venezuelan-air-force-6548227

Intercept from 2016; not grounded:
https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/venezuela-s-shoot-down-policy-produces-mixed-results/