Well just don't buy F 16 IN, Mig- 35 and Gripen.. Rest is fine with me... Can someone tell me when the first short list will be declared and the final winner also?
I will be relaxed if EF, Rafale and SH 18 are short listed, that would really be mouth watering then it doesn't matter who wins. All of them are good.
EF will sooner or later develop ground attack, its unquestionable but how well it does that is one..
Sancho,
Can you throw some light on the possible ground attack capabilits that can be integrated on EF in future. Will it be at par with that of rafale or even SH 18?
Hi Kinshuk, I think all trials will be done till this summer, then they should shortlist 2-3 contenders, which will send final offers to MoD. How long MoD need to take a decision is unsure, because there will be a lot of talk and behind the scenes, lobbying by the companies and the media of course, so I don't expect a decision before the summer, or even the end of next year.
The final decision in Brazil was said to be taken in oct last year and now still nothing is clear. The MoD tries to get the best price/package, the vendors competing eachother with better offers. Recently there were reports that the price of Rafale was reduced for 40%, although it never was confirmed. Saab has now officially, the support of UK, that is a partner in the Selsex AESA radar development, so ToT of the radar should be no problem in case of Brazil.
As you can see, we will still have a lot of time for such discussions!
Imo EF won't be on par in A2G, because it lacks the range and the payload of F18SH, or Rafale and unlike these fighters it is not a carrier fighter, what means anti-ship, or strike capabilities at all was never needed to fulfill its main role!
Of course more capabilities were planed at the beginning and could be available if a customer is ready to fund the integration, but keep in mind that the EF members UK and ITA will are also members in F35 and that will be their main strike and carrier fighter in future. Why should they waste money to integrate costly anti-ship, or stand off missiles on EF, if F35 will be the much better plattform for them?
Till 2013 all EFs will have a targeting pod and some LGB mainly, anti-tank and stand off missiles was planed at the begining for T3, but it's not sure when, or if they come.
Except two American fighters none of the contenders has a fielded AESA radar. CAESAR is undergoing flight evolution tests since 2007 and it will be ready before India get the MRCA. Actually the CAESAR is the better than APG-79, APG-80, NORA/Vixen, Zhuk-AE and RBE-2 AESA.
CAESAR is far from beeing ready, because it's not even known what kind of radar it will be (swashplate, fixed) and the member countries have not agreed on it yet. Rafale was with AESA radar at the trials in Bangalore last year and the French forces will get their first F3 with serial produced AESA by 2012, before EF will be ready with the development.