BATMAN
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Yeah this is something that would be of great interest..... with the constant delays the unit price MUST have increased. The purchase of external parts and knowledge will have racked up the price as well.
According to one (out of many) estimates on wiki the unit price may go well up to 35MUSD.
I wonder if these estimates count the development cost of Kaveri engine or not?
Due to development delays IAF is forced to do major service and overhall of its mig21 (in order to keep them alive) which again (web info.) may cost 400MUSD for 125 units!
And also due to delays IAF had lost many planes and pilots on those migs, which again may have costed dearly!
In that case (common sense) its not very viable or wise to keep spending on such an ill concieved project, but then what are the factors which are forcing all governments to keep rolling this project!
Is it the local contractors who have there interest associated? or
Is it the self-esteem? or
Is it a tit for tat approach against the development of JF-17? or
Is it for the sake of fame? or
Is it just India is rich enough to afford expensive labs and costly trainings for its young engineers?
Recent test flight of a prototype indicates that India suddenly become very serious in the swift completion of LCA project. But we also know local engine will not be ready any time soon, hence I assume that most likely it will be GE-F404 type, other wise modifications may be required on Airframe.
Are there any news about this potential order?