Sancho
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Seems like some movement on the trial front. Will be interesting to see if they can hold their promises.
F-18 Advanced Super Hornet
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WolfPack86
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Why Stealth Is Boeing’s Big Buzzword In India’s Looming Fighter Race
The esoteric subject of fighter aircraft contracting, usually restricted in the Indian context to the occasional headline, boomed within the walls of India’s Parliament a week ago. In the eye of the proverbial storm was — and continues to be — India’s purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraftfrom France. With less than a year to go for the country’s next national election, one that promises to outstrip all earlier elections in its assurance of a historically no-holds-barred fight, the aircraft deal is now a fully loaded political weapon, where the noise has helpfully blurred many of the questions being asked. It’s a noise that won’t die down soon.
In the middle of this noise, the Indian public will need reminding that India has just flipped the switch on another major effort to procure fighter aircraft, in which contenders include the very Rafale that’s cruising now through the most potent of Indian political fires: those fueled by armament deals. The new effort, which symbolically began on July 6 when six aircraft manufacturers, including the Rafale’s maker, Dassault Aviation, is a $16 billion plan to build at least 110 of a winning foreign fighter for the Indian Air Force in a new private sector manufacturing facility.
As Livefist has reported before, the enormous complexity of the contracting exercise aside, there is unlikely to be any substantial movement on the effort for the remainder of the financial year, with every bit of it to be consumed in the election process. However, unlike the similar erstwhile ‘mother of all deals’, the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest for 126 jets, that collapsed in 2013 under an earlier government, the fresh effort is being seen as an imperative for both fleet strength as well as industrial aerospace capacity. It won’t be an easy path, but a system bruised by lessons over a decade is girding its loins and hoping things will be different this time. The current political flashpoint over the Rafale fighter jet deal has only made an already vulnerable topic in India more volatile. Well, that’s the context.
On July 6, alongside Dassault’s information docket on the Rafale that arrived at the Ministry of Defence were five others: Saab’s on the Gripen, Rosoboronexport’s on the MiG-35, Airbus’s on the Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed-Martin’s on the F-16 Block 70 and finally Boeing’s on the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III. The Indian Air Force had initially set out to acquire single-engined fighters (a contest that would have been between only the F-16 and Gripen in the above list), though it expanded this effort to include twin-engined jets, throwing up the familiar six horse race that will be run.
While that contest will meander over the next 12-18 months towards getting off the ground, the other major air force capability program that’s been through its own share of rough weather is the quest for a stealth aircraft fleet. India’s now well-known disenchantment with Russia over the Su-57 fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) program has led to a tentative rethink and a consequent slowing of the effort. With China speeding through its fifth generation program with inductions of the Chengdu J-20 starting last March, the Indian Air Force finds itself staring at a void it had hoped was going to be filled with a degree of predictability.
It is in this combination of turbulences that India sets out to acquire new jets. And Boeing, one of India’s largest single suppliers of military aircraft in the last decade, sniffs a game-changing opportunity that plugs right into work it is already engaged in for the US Navy.
Unlike the F/A-18 Block II fighter that had been fielded by Boeing in earlier contest that collapsed without finality, it has offered the Indian Air Force the F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet this time, an aircraft that will involve a 50 per cent increase in lifetime flight hours, extended endurance by virtue of conformal fuel tanks, a new tactical targeting system, an expanded network and datalink architecture, a wide display cockpit and — what Boeing is hoping will be a game-changing advantage in the Indian contest — stealth coatings and airframe tweaks that bring the Super Hornet’s radar signature down by at least 10 per cent more.
That Boeing has emphasised the Block III Super Hornet’s stealthiness in their response to the Indian Air Force isn’t surprising. Company executives replied in the affirmative when Livefistasked if the stealth pitch was aimed at alleviating the Indian Air Force’s urgent concerns over the stealth capability void and projecting it as a key capability differentiator in the mix.
“It is by far the most stealthy aircraft in the competition, and the only next generation fighter in the contest,” Dan Gillian, Vice President on the F/A-18 program at Boeing told Livefist. “There is need for stealth for future threats and a balanced approach to survivability. The Super Hornet as it is today is already more stealthy than its competitors. And the Block III just takes that further.”
Here’s a video of Livefist’s Shiv Aroor in conversation with the Boeing leadership team spearheading the Super Hornet pitch in India (Article continues below the video):
Boeing doesn’t go so far as to say the Block III Super Hornet is a stealth jet, but has insisted that an already low observable airframe will see its radar signature diminish by 10 per cent under the new US Navy funded upgrade. While some reports have defined these as minor changes, Boeing offers that it’s still a step ahead of competitors in the mix. And by extension, a tangible parameter for the Indian Air Force to chew on in the circumstances, even though the contest at hand doesn’t specifically stipulate (yet) the requirement for a stealthy jet. Whether that changes at the request for proposal (RfP) stage remains to be seen.
To be sure, while stealth is a specifically customer-contracted improvement in the new Block III Super Hornet, Boeing’s competitors will also likely brandish the low-observable qualities of the aircraft they have fielded. In the realm of stealth, low observable pioneer Lockheed-Martin for instance has pitched the F-16 Block 70 as a system with many survivability features that mirror the purpose-built stealth F-35 Lightning II. The Gripen E from Saab too has a few things to say about how the new airframe cuts radar signature. The Rafale and Typhoon have for years challenged the stealth offered by the F-35 with their own survivability features in hostile airspace. But it’s clear that alongside manufacturing heft and capabilities of the Block III Super Hornet, stealth will be a buzzword for Boeing in the Indian contest.
“Merely kinematic performance doesn’t cut it anymore. A fighter simply going at a target with speed isn’t going to bring anything to the fight. Footprint and radar signature matter for emerging threats,” says Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India. “It’s a contemporary fighter for the United States. It has adequate stealth characteristics to serve current needs and as a bridge to the future. Many of the stealth technologies for the AMCA can be derived from this.”
India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) fifth generation fighter concept remains on the drawing board, and its techno-industrial future now stands yoked to the current fighter contest. The Indian Air Force has never operated stealth aircraft before, nor has it had the opportunity to work with purpose-built stealth technologies in terms of coatings and materials so far. Its radar signature work has remained restricted largely to flight profiles and tactics. Boeing seems poised to tap that threshold. While the company states that its thrust is based on a three-way proposition hinged on performance, affordability and indigenisation, the fourth vector in the mix is clearly stealth.
The US Navy is contracting for 110 new Block III Super Hornets, while the first in service US Navy F/A-18s that will be brought up to the Block III standard were delivered to Boeing’s St Louis facility earlier this month, with hundreds more to follow.
https://www.livefistdefence.com/201...zzword-in-indias-looming-fighter-contest.html
The esoteric subject of fighter aircraft contracting, usually restricted in the Indian context to the occasional headline, boomed within the walls of India’s Parliament a week ago. In the eye of the proverbial storm was — and continues to be — India’s purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraftfrom France. With less than a year to go for the country’s next national election, one that promises to outstrip all earlier elections in its assurance of a historically no-holds-barred fight, the aircraft deal is now a fully loaded political weapon, where the noise has helpfully blurred many of the questions being asked. It’s a noise that won’t die down soon.
In the middle of this noise, the Indian public will need reminding that India has just flipped the switch on another major effort to procure fighter aircraft, in which contenders include the very Rafale that’s cruising now through the most potent of Indian political fires: those fueled by armament deals. The new effort, which symbolically began on July 6 when six aircraft manufacturers, including the Rafale’s maker, Dassault Aviation, is a $16 billion plan to build at least 110 of a winning foreign fighter for the Indian Air Force in a new private sector manufacturing facility.
As Livefist has reported before, the enormous complexity of the contracting exercise aside, there is unlikely to be any substantial movement on the effort for the remainder of the financial year, with every bit of it to be consumed in the election process. However, unlike the similar erstwhile ‘mother of all deals’, the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest for 126 jets, that collapsed in 2013 under an earlier government, the fresh effort is being seen as an imperative for both fleet strength as well as industrial aerospace capacity. It won’t be an easy path, but a system bruised by lessons over a decade is girding its loins and hoping things will be different this time. The current political flashpoint over the Rafale fighter jet deal has only made an already vulnerable topic in India more volatile. Well, that’s the context.
On July 6, alongside Dassault’s information docket on the Rafale that arrived at the Ministry of Defence were five others: Saab’s on the Gripen, Rosoboronexport’s on the MiG-35, Airbus’s on the Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed-Martin’s on the F-16 Block 70 and finally Boeing’s on the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III. The Indian Air Force had initially set out to acquire single-engined fighters (a contest that would have been between only the F-16 and Gripen in the above list), though it expanded this effort to include twin-engined jets, throwing up the familiar six horse race that will be run.
While that contest will meander over the next 12-18 months towards getting off the ground, the other major air force capability program that’s been through its own share of rough weather is the quest for a stealth aircraft fleet. India’s now well-known disenchantment with Russia over the Su-57 fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) program has led to a tentative rethink and a consequent slowing of the effort. With China speeding through its fifth generation program with inductions of the Chengdu J-20 starting last March, the Indian Air Force finds itself staring at a void it had hoped was going to be filled with a degree of predictability.
It is in this combination of turbulences that India sets out to acquire new jets. And Boeing, one of India’s largest single suppliers of military aircraft in the last decade, sniffs a game-changing opportunity that plugs right into work it is already engaged in for the US Navy.
Unlike the F/A-18 Block II fighter that had been fielded by Boeing in earlier contest that collapsed without finality, it has offered the Indian Air Force the F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet this time, an aircraft that will involve a 50 per cent increase in lifetime flight hours, extended endurance by virtue of conformal fuel tanks, a new tactical targeting system, an expanded network and datalink architecture, a wide display cockpit and — what Boeing is hoping will be a game-changing advantage in the Indian contest — stealth coatings and airframe tweaks that bring the Super Hornet’s radar signature down by at least 10 per cent more.
That Boeing has emphasised the Block III Super Hornet’s stealthiness in their response to the Indian Air Force isn’t surprising. Company executives replied in the affirmative when Livefistasked if the stealth pitch was aimed at alleviating the Indian Air Force’s urgent concerns over the stealth capability void and projecting it as a key capability differentiator in the mix.
“It is by far the most stealthy aircraft in the competition, and the only next generation fighter in the contest,” Dan Gillian, Vice President on the F/A-18 program at Boeing told Livefist. “There is need for stealth for future threats and a balanced approach to survivability. The Super Hornet as it is today is already more stealthy than its competitors. And the Block III just takes that further.”
Here’s a video of Livefist’s Shiv Aroor in conversation with the Boeing leadership team spearheading the Super Hornet pitch in India (Article continues below the video):
Boeing doesn’t go so far as to say the Block III Super Hornet is a stealth jet, but has insisted that an already low observable airframe will see its radar signature diminish by 10 per cent under the new US Navy funded upgrade. While some reports have defined these as minor changes, Boeing offers that it’s still a step ahead of competitors in the mix. And by extension, a tangible parameter for the Indian Air Force to chew on in the circumstances, even though the contest at hand doesn’t specifically stipulate (yet) the requirement for a stealthy jet. Whether that changes at the request for proposal (RfP) stage remains to be seen.
To be sure, while stealth is a specifically customer-contracted improvement in the new Block III Super Hornet, Boeing’s competitors will also likely brandish the low-observable qualities of the aircraft they have fielded. In the realm of stealth, low observable pioneer Lockheed-Martin for instance has pitched the F-16 Block 70 as a system with many survivability features that mirror the purpose-built stealth F-35 Lightning II. The Gripen E from Saab too has a few things to say about how the new airframe cuts radar signature. The Rafale and Typhoon have for years challenged the stealth offered by the F-35 with their own survivability features in hostile airspace. But it’s clear that alongside manufacturing heft and capabilities of the Block III Super Hornet, stealth will be a buzzword for Boeing in the Indian contest.
“Merely kinematic performance doesn’t cut it anymore. A fighter simply going at a target with speed isn’t going to bring anything to the fight. Footprint and radar signature matter for emerging threats,” says Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India. “It’s a contemporary fighter for the United States. It has adequate stealth characteristics to serve current needs and as a bridge to the future. Many of the stealth technologies for the AMCA can be derived from this.”
India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) fifth generation fighter concept remains on the drawing board, and its techno-industrial future now stands yoked to the current fighter contest. The Indian Air Force has never operated stealth aircraft before, nor has it had the opportunity to work with purpose-built stealth technologies in terms of coatings and materials so far. Its radar signature work has remained restricted largely to flight profiles and tactics. Boeing seems poised to tap that threshold. While the company states that its thrust is based on a three-way proposition hinged on performance, affordability and indigenisation, the fourth vector in the mix is clearly stealth.
The US Navy is contracting for 110 new Block III Super Hornets, while the first in service US Navy F/A-18s that will be brought up to the Block III standard were delivered to Boeing’s St Louis facility earlier this month, with hundreds more to follow.
https://www.livefistdefence.com/201...zzword-in-indias-looming-fighter-contest.html
WolfPack86
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“A fighter simply going after a target with speed won't bring anything to the fight. Footprint & radar signature matter for emerging threats”. Boeing's @pratkumar & Dan Gilian discuss F/A-18 Super Hornet’s superior capabilities w/ @livefist. WATCH:
Sancho
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(OT) The Swiss Air Force might not be going to war anytime soon but their pilots sure know how to fly the F-18:
The F-18 performs lie it has TVC.
The F-18 performs lie it has TVC.
WolfPack86
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Coming to India's Aircraft Carriers: America's F/A-18 Super Hornet?
Dan Gillian, Boeing’s program manager for the F/A-18 and EA-18G, told Economic Times that his company had done simulations of the Super Hornet taking off from a ski jump and the aircraft can be launched with a ‘significant’ payload without any modifications.
He added that the F/A-18 will be tested from a U.S. Navy ski jump as well.
“We have answered queries from the Indian Navy and the simulation analysis is done. At some point, we will also take off from a US Navy ski jump. We feel very comfortable that we will pass the requirements with a meaningful and significant payload,” Gillian said.
Boeing is vying for an Indian Navy contract for 57 new fighter jets to operate from its next aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The Super Hornets would replace the service MiG-29Ks that are facing problems with engines and electronic control systems. These issues resulted in serviceability of the airplanes varying between 16 percent and 39 percent meaning that out of fleet 10 fighters only 3 were normally available for operations at a given time.
Boeing offered to set up an F/A-18 Super Hornet production facility in India. “We are talking about creating a next-generation facility in India. We think the Super Hornet is the most advanced airplane that India could manufacture,” Gillian explained.
Gillian added that talks are on with both the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (that has a requirement for 116 new fighter jets). Boeing in fact is looking for a partnership with Indian manufacturers Mahindra and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to present a proposal under the Make in India initiative. “HAL has built airplanes for years and Mahindra too has manufacturing knowhow. A public-private partnership will bring it together and we will build a brand new first class facility in India. It will help India build its next plan for the advanced multirole combat aircraft as well,” Gillian concluded.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/b...ft-carriers-americas-fa-18-super-hornet-73641
Dan Gillian, Boeing’s program manager for the F/A-18 and EA-18G, told Economic Times that his company had done simulations of the Super Hornet taking off from a ski jump and the aircraft can be launched with a ‘significant’ payload without any modifications.
He added that the F/A-18 will be tested from a U.S. Navy ski jump as well.
“We have answered queries from the Indian Navy and the simulation analysis is done. At some point, we will also take off from a US Navy ski jump. We feel very comfortable that we will pass the requirements with a meaningful and significant payload,” Gillian said.
Boeing is vying for an Indian Navy contract for 57 new fighter jets to operate from its next aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The Super Hornets would replace the service MiG-29Ks that are facing problems with engines and electronic control systems. These issues resulted in serviceability of the airplanes varying between 16 percent and 39 percent meaning that out of fleet 10 fighters only 3 were normally available for operations at a given time.
Boeing offered to set up an F/A-18 Super Hornet production facility in India. “We are talking about creating a next-generation facility in India. We think the Super Hornet is the most advanced airplane that India could manufacture,” Gillian explained.
Gillian added that talks are on with both the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (that has a requirement for 116 new fighter jets). Boeing in fact is looking for a partnership with Indian manufacturers Mahindra and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to present a proposal under the Make in India initiative. “HAL has built airplanes for years and Mahindra too has manufacturing knowhow. A public-private partnership will bring it together and we will build a brand new first class facility in India. It will help India build its next plan for the advanced multirole combat aircraft as well,” Gillian concluded.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/b...ft-carriers-americas-fa-18-super-hornet-73641
WolfPack86
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Make in India: HAL delivers gun bay door for the F/A-18 Super Hornet
It was time to celebrate when the State owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Monday delivered the 150th gun bay door for the F/A-18 Super Hornet of Boeing Company.
These gun bay doors being manufactured at the HAL facility in Bengaluru are an example of American aerospace Boeing Company’s ongoing commitment to India and its robust investment in Indian defence and aerospace ecosystem.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet, a twin-engine supersonic all weather, carrier-capable multirole combat jet delivering cutting-edge, next-generation multi-role strike fighter capability and is expected to be offered to the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
As has been reported by Financial Express Online, the IAF will soon invite Expressions of Interest (EoI) from foreign manufacturers for 114 combat aircraft. Top company officer had said that Boeing is ready to set up a completely new production facility in India for the production of its F/A-18 Super Hornets, depending on the numbers of machines ordered by both the Navy and IAF.
State-owned HAL has been Boeing’s long-term supplier in India for quarter of a century and was awarded the contract to manufacture gun bay doors for the Super Hornet in 2007.
Said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India, “This delivery of the 150th gun bay door for the Super Hornet demonstrates that Indian suppliers are an integral part of Boeing’s global supply chain. This milestone is yet another endorsement of our commitment to India, which is well recognized today, because we’ve been investing and making in India for several years now.”
Adding, “Our investments in India are robust and ongoing, spanning technology, hi-tech innovation, production capacity, establishing a supply chain network, and developing skilling centres for aerospace manufacturing in India.”
“HAL is committed to strengthening aerospace manufacturing in India. This delivery is not just an important milestone for the company but also for Boeing and the Indian industry, ” said its chairman and managing director R Madhavan.
To help realize the Make in India vision to its full potential, the US Company has offered to build a 21st century aerospace ecosystem in India for manufacturing the F/A-18 Super Hornet with Indian partners, HAL and Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS). Such a move is expected to create thousands of jobs and hundreds of suppliers in India.
So far Boeing Company’s sourcing from India stands at $1 billion with over 160 existing industrial partners.
http://www.defencenews.in/article/M...n-bay-door-for-the-F/A-18-Super-Hornet-585440
It was time to celebrate when the State owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Monday delivered the 150th gun bay door for the F/A-18 Super Hornet of Boeing Company.
These gun bay doors being manufactured at the HAL facility in Bengaluru are an example of American aerospace Boeing Company’s ongoing commitment to India and its robust investment in Indian defence and aerospace ecosystem.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet, a twin-engine supersonic all weather, carrier-capable multirole combat jet delivering cutting-edge, next-generation multi-role strike fighter capability and is expected to be offered to the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force (IAF).
As has been reported by Financial Express Online, the IAF will soon invite Expressions of Interest (EoI) from foreign manufacturers for 114 combat aircraft. Top company officer had said that Boeing is ready to set up a completely new production facility in India for the production of its F/A-18 Super Hornets, depending on the numbers of machines ordered by both the Navy and IAF.
State-owned HAL has been Boeing’s long-term supplier in India for quarter of a century and was awarded the contract to manufacture gun bay doors for the Super Hornet in 2007.
Said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India, “This delivery of the 150th gun bay door for the Super Hornet demonstrates that Indian suppliers are an integral part of Boeing’s global supply chain. This milestone is yet another endorsement of our commitment to India, which is well recognized today, because we’ve been investing and making in India for several years now.”
Adding, “Our investments in India are robust and ongoing, spanning technology, hi-tech innovation, production capacity, establishing a supply chain network, and developing skilling centres for aerospace manufacturing in India.”
“HAL is committed to strengthening aerospace manufacturing in India. This delivery is not just an important milestone for the company but also for Boeing and the Indian industry, ” said its chairman and managing director R Madhavan.
To help realize the Make in India vision to its full potential, the US Company has offered to build a 21st century aerospace ecosystem in India for manufacturing the F/A-18 Super Hornet with Indian partners, HAL and Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS). Such a move is expected to create thousands of jobs and hundreds of suppliers in India.
So far Boeing Company’s sourcing from India stands at $1 billion with over 160 existing industrial partners.
http://www.defencenews.in/article/M...n-bay-door-for-the-F/A-18-Super-Hornet-585440
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A last trials swiss eval leak : The swiss evaluators found the SH18 less agile than the legacy F18. It's in the DSI defense news.
Add that to the breakdown of one of the planes during eval => Badly engaged for Super Hornet in Switzerland.
And the confirmation that SH18 is more a light bomber with a powerfull radar than a fighter.
I doubt indian pilots likes that.
Jameson Emoni
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I have made up my mind on EA-18-G for Indian navy. Both Vikrant class carriers should be equipped with EA/F-18. In addition, two squadrons of EA/F-18 should be based in naval air station in A&N. This will add up to a total of 4 squadrons of EA/F-18 for Indian navy.
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It is a heavy aircraft with no useful load taking off from a ramp.
HariPrasad-1
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Wht about Electrinics, RCS and Weapons where Super Hornet is a winner?Why not the SU-35?
Fuel Cost Winner: Sukhoi
Range Winner: Sukhoi
Altitude Winner: Sukhoi
Rate of Climb Winner: Sukhoi
Max. Speed Winner: Sukhoi
Takeoff Field Length Winner: Boeing
Landing Field Length Winner: Sukhoi
Thrust per Engine Winner: Boeing
Payload Winner: Sukhoi
F-18 - $55 million. SU-35 $40-$60 million.
ram singh तोपची
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well i m of the opinion , not that it matters that we should not buy big ticket offensive weapons from Yankees cos it will come with strings attached about how , when ,against who not to use and if it is disregarded then they will put embargo on supply of spare parts not only that based on that they will arm twist you . in other words it is very risky and as far as Brits are concern they are two headed snake of very nasty kind , they have ditched us in the past and they will not hesitate to do it again . i think what ever is happening there in UK parliament with regards to Kashmir and stuff i will not be surprised if euro typhoon emerges as one of the reasons in later date and the same thing in US congress hearing on Kashmir . the only people who stood by us in the times of adversity are Russians and French .e g after nuke tests
Hari Sud
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What matter above the price of the plane, is what comes with the aircraft together with capability to set up independent assembly line including more than 70% component manufactured in India. F18 and American export control is most difficult to manage. They butt in where they should not be. Same is true about Typhoon, unless they try and get rid of Corbyn as the Labour leader and modify all their policies towards India. TOT is a must, without that, there is no deal. That leaves Rafale in the picture, they have no political problems to deal with here or in France. Only the price is high, but I believe the price for the newer tender will be considerably less because the infrastructure to repair and keep it flying has already arrived with the first deal. All they have to do is TOT to an Indian Partner to set up an independent line of assembly. Also the Russians will sweeten the deal in many ways but they are no go.
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Electronic, YES.
RCS....
Weaponnery : YES.
Agility : ??? (latest swiss trials indicate that SH is less agile than FA18, which is slightly under F16)
abhay rajput
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Many people are forgetting here is that us fighter jets comes with pre conditions and India can't obey those conditions. My father works at MOD and I can tell you that both the navy and airforce contract will go to rafale, because of conditions associated with us equipments. If you don't believe me just wait for 4-5 years
HariPrasad-1
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Anything (Fighter Plane) American is less agile than Russian.
HariPrasad-1
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Logically, contract should go to rafale only because we have paid a big amount to do one time work to suite our requirement. Buying anything else will result in recurring of expenses once again.
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a leak from this year swiss eval of SH18 : it was found as dynamically less effective than legacy FA18.
(and a breakdown during the 2 weeks trial made a bad effect).
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If a flying bathtub is Boeing's idea of stealth they have no right to use the word.
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F16 vs Mig29 or F15 vs Su27 : I don't think russian products are always better.
Mig29 for exemple was limited to 7G, but use a very surprising and effective helmet for WVR fight (a discover made just after the iron wall collapse)
