The PAF has an order for 18 with an option for 18 more block 50/52. I think Production line will be open a little longer than 2008. Also, the F-16s are one of the four main contenders for the Indian fighter tender. The Turks are also buying 30 block 50/52 which will be produced by TAI in Turkey.
And what are the chances of the F-16 wining over a MiG-35 in the Indian competition??? Everybody keeps saying it's the favorite.
Thats not the point. The fact that its still a very good fighter and people are still interested in buying it.
Just because it's in the competition it doesn't mean that India's interested in it. It just means it survived the first few stages of the competition. It is a very good fighter I'm not denying that I'm just saying that it falls short for some countries requirements especially those whose neighbors want or have the F-35. But if your country has S-300 or any other way to detect the F-35, the MiG-35 should meet, if not exceed, your requirements while the F-16 would not meet your requirements.
Hmmm, do you know that indians are not interested in the F-16s? If you do please share your info/source. As far as i know, the didn't say they weren't interested in it and the people at Lockheed Martin is trying very hard to win this deal. I doubt they would try so hard if they didn't think the Indians were interested.
Read the post again I never said they weren't interested.My personal opinion is that the Indians are probably leading on LockMart so they try even harder and force the Russians to drive the price down for the MiG-35. As far as I know the only American plane that truly stands a chance is the F-18. I'm not sure if its the Super hornet though. If not what chance dose it stand against a TVC'd MiG-29M2 with AESA and true-multi role capabilities as well as full glass cockpit.
Actually, there is more than one country actively trying to get the F-16 sale to India (which would be a very large deal). The second country has worked with India for a long time, upgrading their systems as well as working on joint projects. I'm not sure how many country's out there will keep "pimpin' India's rides" if they're not american. Future and available parts aside, it doesn't make sense to keep upgrading the fighter plane that is used by many to fly against you. India could lose out on chances at future american technology/products.
Could not agree more.
Well considering the trade opportunities China (world's largest market by 2015) presents and the weaponry Russia offers (in many cases better than American with no political ties) I would go the Sino-Russian route. Just to let you know Egypt a major non-NATO ally of the US signed a free trade agreement with China before they did with US (I don't think we even signed with the US). Before this the US was pressuring us to sign with them.
The hornet in the competition is a Super Hornet. I personally think this will win due to great avionics and most importantly the AESA radar. The F-16 stands the least chance out of the Super Hornet, and Mig- 35. Why, even the block 60 is not as good as the Super Hornet. ( my opinion) The Super Hornet was designed for carriers meaing it will have good endurance and be able to operate on its own. It has more fuel. And overall, the plane has great avionics.
So you think the Super Hornet will win over the MiG-35 or did I read it wrong? It's unclear from the way you wrote it.
Maybe, but Egypt's pilots are Egyptian (RSAF has Pakistanis) and get alot of flight hours even when compared to Israel.The EAF is also the most experienced air force in the Arab world because of all the wars they had against a powerful and modern enemy and were able to develop their own tactics and formations like flying in "finger-four" (formation made by an Egyptian pilot) formation at low attitude to surprise the enemy. That tactic made the EAF able to shoot down 4 Mirages in the war of attrition with a loss of one MiG-21. The only time the RSAF ever entered combat was to shoot a handful(I believe 4) of obsolete(when compared to the F-15C's of the RSAF) Iraq and Iranian planes. I believe they've shot down F-4's and Mirage III with their F-15C's. If you go to the Egypt's air force pictures in the DT forum you'll find a photo of an Egyptian MiG-21 shooting a brand new F-18 down while in a dog-fight (meaning it locked on for more than 4 sec).As far as the most powerful Arab air force. It would be Saudi Arabia and then Egypt. The RSAF has great planes like the F-15C, F-15S, and the Tornado. They have a good quantity of these airplanes as well. Additionally,they have a great amount of money to spend aquiring new state of the art planes. (Eurofighter) They Egyptians have the second best thanks to over 200 F-16s. Although these are not the new block 50 and block 60.
This is my opinion. Its probobly true, wouldn't one agree?
I will say this f-22, yes the Saudis have better kit - F-15S, like any Eagle, is a formidable piece of kit. The Saudis too fly the backside off theirs - the average RSAF Eagle driver has more hours on stick than his USAF counterpart.
I wasn't saying the Israeli pilots aren't good. In my opinion their some of the best in the world and I know that the IAF lets only the most qualified personnel into an IAF fighter jet. It was just to add to the point I was making about Egyptian pilots getting lots of flight time which I'm sure translates into a better pilot most of the time. Not to say that Israeli pilots aren't better. But Egyptian pilots aren't bad either. As to Israeli pilot who died in the space shuttle crash I'm sure he was highly educated and an amazing pilot other wise he wouldn't be on a space shuttle would he?Perhaps, you're right! But I'm sure you know that the IDF doesn't give combat pilot info out. As I said, I don't have a clue who has the best pilots, but comparing some names with some names doesn't go far in proving much... other than one of the names (a person) died when the shuttle exploded on re-entry. I don't get the connection between that and a good AF pilot. But if Israel only has eight (well 7) pilots with 1000 hours, then I'm not sure I'd rank even them as an AF.
I highly doubt that RSAF pilots aren't trained to fight. I was just citing experience from previous wars, fighter pilot time ACM training with various AF's from around the world (including the RSAF I think) to say the EAF pilots might have the upper hand over RSAF's pilots. I'm sure the Saudis that join the RSAF are just as good if not better than some USAF pilots.
I know, I was just trying to get at how it's pretty much impossible to say who's the best unless we want to see an all out war between the pilots of each AF ("I" don't and hope "we" don't), and how he/she uses his/her skills not only against a "real enemy," but with everything else that is integrated within each military. There are surely many excellent pilots throughout the ME that could be put up against the best in the world (I'm not saying if there are 500 great pilots in the West, there will be 500 in the ME--nor 5,000 in China--just that many ME AFs train extremely hard, with what they have and as is everywhere, it is the pilot's duty, "to be the best he can be"
).