tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384856123558926763.post7064954252182211163..comments2023-07-11T09:57:54.828-03:00Comments on BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA: South Korea's F-X competition. One to watch.Doug Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10504832466775445050noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384856123558926763.post-61437108588010592942013-07-04T13:58:19.322-03:002013-07-04T13:58:19.322-03:001/ Yeah, that's a way to do the same thing. Bu...1/ Yeah, that's a way to do the same thing. But more importantly an incentive to such countries to purchase U.S weapons in my opinion. Sort of 'reverse offset' : instead of an investment as a compensation for the order, they invest to obtain orders...<br />(no competition then!)<br /><br />2/ I agree risks for the Gripen are only on a technical side (to achieve full production within technical specifications and cost) but both on technical and political sides for Silent Eagle. Besides, political backing is more about money, especially for a big manufacturer such as Boeing. In fact, when a first customer (or Sweden + Switzerland in the Gripen E/F case) has already paid the development cost of a new variant of a fighter, order is significantly cheaper for the second one. In the Gripen E/F case, development of a new radar, new avionics, production/manufacturing upgrade and many needed flight tests to validate new aerodynamics are worth several billions $. So that's very convenient to wait for another one to pay for the hard part...Doug Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504832466775445050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384856123558926763.post-54623784880753578352013-07-03T22:43:25.418-03:002013-07-03T22:43:25.418-03:001/ It is weird. The US will give foreign nations...1/ It is weird. The US will give foreign nations billions worth of military aid, but they won't cut them a deal on weapons...<br /><br /><br />2/ Good point about the Gripen E/F similarities with the Silent Eagle... However, the Gripen E has government backing along with 2 fairly solid orders (Sweden and Switzerland). It also has a flying demonstrator. The Silent Eagle hasn't quite gotten to that stage yet.Doug Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504832466775445050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384856123558926763.post-50813637262314598092013-07-03T16:22:15.590-03:002013-07-03T16:22:15.590-03:00Oh, and something else, 2 points:
1/"US law ...Oh, and something else, 2 points:<br /><br />1/"US law states that neither a fixed price nor a maximum price can be set for foreign sales. This is (theoretically) in place to keep the US taxpayer from subsidizing other militaries."<br /><br />==> That's amazing! And sort of hypocrisy. Because US taxpayer is actually subsidizing other militaries. I read just today that US military aid to Egypt was worth more than $1 billion… per year. For Israel, that seems to be more than $2 billion per year. No wonder why they procure U.S hardware, even at Pentagon price…<br /><br /> 2/“The Silent Eagle also has the disadvantage of being still in development. With no units in service yet and no fully functional prototype, the F-15SE program still carries a certain amount of risk and uncertainty.”<br /><br />==> So you admit it! That’s the same for Gripen E/F (sorry, that’s was TOOOO tempting). Besides, I agree without U.S political backing, that’s tough to sell abroad.Doug Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504832466775445050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384856123558926763.post-519629810699324682013-07-02T16:28:50.790-03:002013-07-02T16:28:50.790-03:00I agree. A Silent Eagle win makes sense. Given the...I agree. A Silent Eagle win makes sense. Given the North Korea "threat", F-15K seems already largely enough...<br /><br />If F-35 wins, that would be another proof USA consider allies as vassals and not partners with their own needs.<br /><br />U.S influence already proved in the past to be very strong in South Korea, so I would not risk a cent on a Eurofighter win (would have been the same for rafale, gripen, su-35, ...).Doug Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504832466775445050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4384856123558926763.post-17424264153273210122013-07-01T12:38:00.500-03:002013-07-01T12:38:00.500-03:00The Silent Eagle will most likely win from price a...The Silent Eagle will most likely win from price alone. If Boeing repeats what it did with the Apache sale, that ends the doubt. The only reason the F-35 would win the order is because of politics and nothing else. Eurofighter truly has no chance unless South Korea gets angry at the United States over the next few weeks. <br /><br />Also, in the grand scheme, 60 airframes is not much for the F-35 program, it's a huge amount for Boeing and the F-15. The Saudi deal already paid for the most expensive part; the fly-by-wire system. If South Korea chooses the Eagle again it will be icing on the cake for both them, and Boeing.Doug Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10504832466775445050noreply@blogger.com