Decision on $10 billion MMRCA deal soon

p2prada said:

The F-22 costed a bomb to develop(more than the F-35), but the final cost today stands at $119Million with just 187 orders. Funny that. The F-35 will be cheaper than that.

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Last price paid for the f-22 was $181million
http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2010/FY2010_Weapons.pdf

All in all, the F-35 will be half that of the F-22 considering the orders.

Anyway you don't have to worry about UK losing out on the EF-2000 simply because of the F-35.

It is possible we have room for both aircraft, but in different services.

p2prada said:

All in all, the F-35 will be half that of the F-22 considering the orders.

Anyway you don't have to worry about UK losing out on the EF-2000 simply because of the F-35.

It is possible we have room for both aircraft, but in different services.

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Well that is the crucial point, the F-35 is a bomb truck, not a fighter aircraft. If you look at US wars they are dominated by flying uncontested sky's after a few specialised aircraft/missiles have taken out the primitive air defences. I can't see India ever fighting such a war, its wars will be fought tooth and nail.

The F-35 is never going to be affordable, its a fundamentally more complex aircraft to build than the f-18, which costs $85M today. The talk of a $65M price tag is bait-and-switch.

The one version of the F-35 that makes sense is the carrier variant, that makes sense to the UK simply because we will be operating alongside the USN 100% of the time and the Yanks love that. It nice to be a poodle for our masters the USA. I can forsee a time when India would want to fight alongside the US and the UK against a common enemy.

Hey any news about the MMRCA deal yet. Today this the historical day on which the deal tender is going to be opened. Eagerly waiting to see who emerges as the winner......

F-35 like the F/A-18E/F, is piece in the puzzle that is the United States Networked Warfare Concept.
India can and will do the same in the future.

weg said:

Well that is the crucial point, the F-35 is a bomb truck, not a fighter aircraft. If you look at US wars they are dominated by flying uncontested sky's after a few specialised aircraft/missiles have taken out the primitive air defences. I can't see India ever fighting such a war, its wars will be fought tooth and nail.

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For a fact, the F-35 in air to air mode can engage the MKI well before the MKI can see the F-35. That's a crucial point. Now, if the BVR missile is successful or not is secondary. Considering the F-35 is meant to have a over 200% superiority in combat to the F-16 Block 52, we have a reason to induct this aircraft.

We have a lot of dedicated strike fighters in the IAF whose numbers are actually only a little less than air superiority fighters. If IAF has room for strike fighters, I am sure the F-35 multirole fighter with unmatched strike capability is an added advantage. We cannot have an air force without SEAD missions capable aircraft like the Jaguar, Mig-27 or even the F-35.

The F-35 is never going to be affordable, its a fundamentally more complex aircraft to build than the f-18, which costs $85M today. The talk of a $65M price tag is bait-and-switch.

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The SH numbers are less than 1/4th the numbers projected for F-35. I never said the F-35 is only $65million. But I am saying the F-35 is less than $100million in the long run. Just saying we will sign the contract well after you have taken delivery of your first squadron. The F-35 is not going to be as expensive as you think it will be.

The MRCA contract will shed more light on how cheap or how expensive it can get for India. We will know soon enough.

The one version of the F-35 that makes sense is the carrier variant, that makes sense to the UK simply because we will be operating alongside the USN 100% of the time and the Yanks love that. It nice to be a poodle for our masters the USA. I can forsee a time when India would want to fight alongside the US and the UK against a common enemy.

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Naa. We may end up fighting you guys with your own aircraft, so no saying what will happen. But, like the UK or US, we have our own wars to fight. I can also say I foresee a time when UK and US will be forced to fight alongside India as poodles for India.

Sir, there is no point telling we can't afford anything when we are looking at an airforce 5-10 times the size of the RAF.


Continued at: http://defenceforumindia.com/indian-air-force/26850-india-opens-bids-10-4-bn-combat.html#post342693