F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

IndianHawk

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I heard F-35 is cheaper than Rafale. Is that true?
It's true for USA internal purchase because of massive scale. But it will be costly for foreign military sales. So to India or others it will probably cost just as much as rafale or even more.

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asianobserve

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It's true for USA internal purchase because of massive scale. But it will be costly for foreign military sales. So to India or others it will probably cost just as much as rafale or even more.

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It's the same price per unit whether its for the US or other countries. What will differ is on the cost of associated infrastructures, training, upgrades, weapons, etc.
 

IndianHawk

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It's the same price per unit whether its for the US or other countries. What will differ is on the cost of associated infrastructures, training, upgrades, weapons, etc.
Nope it may be same price for f35 development partners. For others it will be more costly. Same happens with f16 . This is very much the practice.

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asianobserve

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Nope it may be same price for f35 development partners. For others it will be more costly. Same happens with f16 . This is very much the practice.

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Wrong. F-35 prices will be the same to all buyers either to US, Level 1 partner UK, Level 2, Level 3, SCP or non-partner buyets like Poland, etc. The main benefits of the partners are industrial participations.
 

asianobserve

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Should India buy F-35 or Rafale?
These problems are expected for such a cutting edge fighter. But if India buys it now by the time it starts recieving the units these problems have already been fixed and the fly-away price is also below $80M. No current fighter can match the overall offensive and defensive capabilities offered by the F-35. It will dramatically blow the balance of power in South Asia. It could even allow India to play a greater role in SEA.
 

Jameson Emoni

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These problems are expected for such a cutting edge fighter. But if India buys it now by the time it starts recieving the units these problems have already been fixed and the fly-away price is also below $80M. No current fighter can match the overall offensive and defensive capabilities offered by the F-35. It will dramatically blow the balance of power in South Asia. It could even allow India to play a greater role in SEA.
I think Philippines should also buy F-35; it will help it against China. Does Philippines still maintain close military relations with US?
 

asianobserve

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I think Philippines should also buy F-35; it will help it against China. Does Philippines still maintain close military relations with US?
The whole country is overwhelmingly pro-US alliance but China was successful in inserting its Manchurian candidate Duterte into the highest post of the land (I campaigned against this murderous China-asset thug). A lot of Filipinos however voted with their feet.

But if we decide to buy the F-35 in the future I think we will be allowed to. But the question of course is can we afford to maintain it? I am more in favor of area denial assets like anti-ship missiles, MLRS, SAMs, amd 4.5th gen fighters while at the same time giving the US military permanent or rotational access to Philippine airports, naval and military installations. In other words, turning our country once again into an unsinkable aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ship at the same time.
 

Jameson Emoni

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The whole country is overwhelmingly pro-US alliance but China was successful in inserting its Manchurian candidate Duterte into the highest post of the land (I campaigned against this murderous China-asset thug). A lot of Filipinos however voted with their feet.

But if we decide to buy the F-35 in the future I think we will be allowed to. But the question of course is can we afford to maintain it? I am more in favor of area denial assets like anti-ship missiles, MLRS, SAMs, amd 4.5th gen fighters while at the same time giving the US military permanent or rotational access to Philippine airports, naval and military installations. In other words, turning our country once again into an unsinkable aircraft carrier and amphibious assault ship at the same time.
I think you are right. It makes more sense for Philippines to outsource its defense to US in some sort of military alliance. Quite a few countries have done it and they are doing well. It is very cost economical for sure. Has China taken over the Philippines' portion of Spratley or is it still under Philippines control?
 

asianobserve

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I think you are right. It makes more sense for Philippines to outsource its defense to US in some sort of military alliance. Quite a few countries have done it and they are doing well. It is very cost economical for sure. Has China taken over the Philippines' portion of Spratley or is it still under Philippines control?
Duterte if barely reacting to brazen Chinese land grab of our EEZ which we won in the UNCLOS. But we are still able to maintain some grip on some of these islands, barely. It's good that the US and allies are keeping China busy lately, ironically without support from Duterte.

But China has weaponized fishing boats and its Coast Guard for land grabbing. They are doing a good job at it.
 

Jameson Emoni

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Duterte if barely reacting to brazen Chinese land grab of our EEZ which we won in the UNCLOS. But we are still able to maintain some grip on some of these islands, barely. It's good that the US and allies are keeping China busy lately, ironically without support from Duterte.

But China has weaponized fishing boats and its Coast Guard for land grabbing. They are doing a good job at it.
Philippines is very strategically located. If it plays its card right, it can have very beneficial military relationship with the US. The military relationship can then transform into mutually beneficial trade relationship.

In your opinion, if US and Philippines were to get back to their good old relationship, and after that, if hostilities were to break out between Philippines and China, would US come out to Philippines aid?
 

asianobserve

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Philippines is very strategically located. If it plays its card right, it can have very beneficial military relationship with the US. The military relationship can then transform into mutually beneficial trade relationship.

In your opinion, if US and Philippines were to get back to their good old relationship, and after that, if hostilities were to break out between Philippines and China, would US come out to Philippines aid?

Yes. But the US will not directly clash with China. What will most likely happen is that the US can make the pain so high for China if it militarily attacks the Philippines.

What it means is that the US will extend all possible military support to the Philippines to allow it to inflict serious casualties and damage to attacking Chinese assets. The US will also throw its diplomatic weight to isolate China. It will no doubt impose serious economic sanctions on Chinese officials, companies and even government instrumentalities.

Perhaps the most direct action that the US military can do is to mix US personnel with Filipino soldiers in operating transferred US military assets. The US can also do covert but always deniable actions like sabotage or cyber attacks on Chinese targets.

In other words, the US will do everything not to end up directly fighting China since both of them are nuclear powers. A direct war between the 2 most powerful countries in the World would be WW3. I don't think that would be in US' intetest, or even the Philippines'.

The bottomline is that it is in US' national interest to prevent China from overpowering the Philippines. It is also in US' interest to make it known to its allies in Asia that it is ready to uphold their alliances. If the US do not come to Philippines' aid in case of open Chinese military aggression then that will be the time that US losses influence in Asia.
 
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Armand2REP

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F-35 chances just increased in the armaSuisse competition as the Gripen E was kicked out.
 

asianobserve

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F-35 chances just increased in the armaSuisse competition as the Gripen E was kicked out.
In as much as I like the F-35, I think it's an overkill for the Swiss. They are not going to be bombing some hi tech integrated air defenses or goi g on A2A combat. The most they'll do with their jets is do some aerobatic works in the alps. GripenE should have been perfect for them.

But the SH is still in the running. The Swiss after all is a legacy Hornet operator. So we'll see.
 
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Jameson Emoni

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In as much as I like the F-35, I think it's an overkill for the Swiss. They are not going to be bombing some hi tech integrated air defenses or goi g on A2A combat. The most they'll do with their jets is do some aerobatic works in the alps. GripenE should have been perfect for them.

But the SH is still in the running. The Swiss after all is a legacy Hornet operator. So we'll see.
Geopolitics can change in a split time. Therefore, imposition of war is unpredictable. You have to be prepared for war at all times. Swiss should definitely go for F-35.
 

IndianHawk

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Geopolitics can change in a split time. Therefore, imposition of war is unpredictable. You have to be prepared for war at all times. Swiss should definitely go for F-35.
Swiss prefer their neutrality in war. F35 remains networked into American systems. USA will track it and will blackmail swiss government for continuous support for f35.

I don't think swiss are ready for this shit.

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asianobserve

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Geopolitics can change in a split time. Therefore, imposition of war is unpredictable. You have to be prepared for war at all times. Swiss should definitely go for F-35.
If not even WW2 forced the Swiss to take sides, I don't think the geopolitical skirmishes of late between the West, Russia and China can make the Swiss move any further. But in buying American weapons the Swiss signals who it prefers to guarantee its neutrality.
 

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