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Rafale in storm clouds, Parrikar says IAF can make do with Sukhoi-30s

I'm unsure of why did India go for Rafael if su-30 mki was the substitute? And is already available in home-made IAF configuration...? I mean seriously is su-30 mki a substitute?? o_O

MKI's are not a substitute for mainly 2 reasons -
1- MKI being maintenance costly.
2- Rafale comes up with western tech, missiles and advance AESA + EW suite.

However if we are not getting Rafale for any reason, MKI is the closest bet we can place on filling the gap.
 
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AFAIK it is around the $22-26,000 mark (the Rafale's cost per hour is pretty much half that)..


However, that is a very fickle figure. For e.g. the South Korean F-15Ks initially costed only 9 million won went ten times higher over the ten years they have had the type..
Something that is ignored by many of the EF proponents is the current real world costs of the EF have been reported close to $33000 per hour although the advertised figure was less than half of that.

This is an interesting and rather funny read
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/dae/articles/communiques/FighterCostFinalJuly06.pdf

The important bit is this

1. Aircraft designed by a single country are not necessarily more expensive than those developed through international cooperation.Gripen and Rafale were both developed by single countries, but end up costing substantially less than Eurofighter, which is produced by a four-nation consortium.

2. But single-nation development does not guarantee lower costs, as the three US fighters
all cost substantially more than the two European “national” fighters, and are comparable to those of Eurofighter, a four-nation cooperative program. Conversely, the projected unit cost of the only (partly) cooperative US aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter, already exceeds that of Gripen and Rafale and of two other US aircraft, F-18E and F-15E,all of which are single-nation designs.

3. Long production runs do not always lead to less expensive aircraft.
The F-18E, with a production run of 462 aircraft, costs half as much again as the Rafale, which has a much smaller production run of 294 aircraft. JSF will cost twice as much as Rafale, despite having a production run almost ten times as large, and half as much again as the F-18E, whose production run is five times smaller. All three are modern, multirole combat aircraft.

4. While charges for major program stoppages and restructurings add to program costs, the
increase is not proportional to the length of the hiatus. Both Eurofighter and Rafale programs
were halted and restructured, adding eight or ten years to their development cycle, while F-15E, F-18E and Gripen were not, yet this is not demonstrably reflected by the difference in their
respective cost.

5. Continuity in development is the best way to avoid cost overruns. Gripen and F-18E (the
F-15E is not significant in this respect) are the only programs to have avoided lengthy “freezes”
and large-scale re-designs, and their production costs are notably lower than competitors’.
Program unit costs of Rafale, Eurofighter and F-22 exploded after they were “suspended” for
several years for major re-designs or funding shortfalls.

6. Although these aircraft were all developed beginning in the late 1980s, and for broadly similar missions, there is no common ratio between R&D and acquisition costs. Indeed, there seems to be no correlation whatsoever between these costs, reflecting each aircraft’s unique R&D itinerary and development history.

In other words, development costs are influenced not by so much be an aircraft’s actual capabilities as by a “smooth” management and development history.
 
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no cancellation is a better option

buy Super Su30MKI

invest in LCA AMCA PAKFA
Though Delays will kill IAF's superiority soon.....

MKI's are not a substitute for mainly 2 reasons -
1- MKI being maintenance costly.
2- Rafale comes up with western tech, missiles and advance AESA + EW suite.

However if we are not getting Rafale for any reason, MKI is the closest bet we can place on filling the gap.
mki are already on order... Hal may need to establish another assembly to meet the pace that you could get from Rafael's delivery together with mki at the same time...

MKI's are not a substitute for mainly 2 reasons -
1- MKI being maintenance costly.
2- Rafale comes up with western tech, missiles and advance AESA + EW suite.

However if we are not getting Rafale for any reason, MKI is the closest bet we can place on filling the gap.
Also I always wanted to know. For how long will Rafael's 4.5+ superiority will last? Starting from first squadron's delivery say in 2018_20? Looking at pace of Chinese development and current force....and countermeasures by Pakistan...!
 
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mki are already on order... Hal may need to establish another assembly to meet the pace that you could get from Rafael's delivery together with mki at the same time...

HAL would deliver all ordered MKI's by 2017. It can continue building more if required, so no need to get another line.
Anyways we were not expecting Rafale before 2016.


Also I always wanted to know. For how long will Rafael's 4.5+ superiority will last? Starting from first squadron's delivery say in 2018_20? Looking at pace of Chinese development and current force....and countermeasures by Pakistan...!

You may not like it but Pakistan is not modernising to a level which can qualitatively compete with IAF or Chinese.

Take it this way -

IAF will be replacing its aging fleet with 150 more 4.5+ gen along with 100% sure induction of 5th gen fighters, while PAF will have almost all aging fleet replace with 4th gen JF-17.

Yes, China has advanced as much faster pace and India wont be able to match them up anytime soon.

PAF can certainly deter IAF and so as IAF can deter PLAF.
 
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