Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindair Dundat
I might have mentioned this before?
Our fast air people want the F-35...
Nothing else.
It's unequivocal.
So how do we make this happen Mr. "I will never buy that airplane?"  |
At this point, and I'm not as much of an expert as others here.
The Super Hornet is a nice jet, and its per plane cost has dropped. However its a 4th generation fighter, its been fairly expensive in other sales. It doesn't have the same level of stealth and sensors and even abilities as the F-35.
The Gripen JAS-39 is a nice little low cost gen 4 fighter. while it has a nice little combination of sensors and capabilities, its far behind the F-35 in terms of its sensor suite and stealth. The question of interoperability within NORAD is going to come into play again.
The F-35 is the most advanced fighter in the contest. Its costs are dropping sharply. They're not that much more then the Super Hornet and JAS-39 (about $10 to $15 million more per plane). They will have a longer life span in the modern digital war space and have more upgradibility.
To me if they buy the Gripen or the Super Hornet, its political more then what's best for the Military period. We are going to have a small airforce of 88 planes. If you're going to do that you buy at the leading edge of what's coming warfare wise and not 10 years behind it.