BEST FIGHTER FOR CANADA

ShenYang J-31 Another close vote for last week's "What if".  At 37%, the Gripen is the most favored choice for a possible interim fighter for Canada.  Two other options, the Rafale and Super Hornet are almost tied at 26% and 25% respectively.  No love for used Typhoons or other choices, however. This week's "What if?" goes into completely different territory.  Of all the "What ifs" presented here, it is the most improbable.  No, I have not last my damn mind (that happened long ago).  The whole point of these scenarios is to open up our minds and consider everything, so why not go completely off the deep end? China does not have a good reputation when it comes to building combat aircraft.  For the most part, their expertise seems to be in designing home-grown versions of Russian aircraft .   China has been combatting this reputation, however. Knock-off? While some have dismissed the Chengdu J-10 as a knock off of the stillborn IAI L...

Chengdu J-10A Big, nasty, superfighters like the PAK FA and J-20 are getting plenty of headlines regarding their performance.  Other designs like the updated Sukhoi Su-35 are getting plenty of attention as well.  Undoubtedly, these are the designs that current and future military planners are seeing as the biggest threat to western air dominance.  Much like the emergence of the MiG-25 during the Cold War, western air experts are seriously wondering if western designs can hold their own against these emerging threats. But the MiG-25 wasn't the biggest fighter threat of the Cold War.  It was produced in relatively small numbers and it had a rather specialized role as an interceptor, meaning it wasn't a very good air-superiority fighter. No, the biggest aerial threat during the Cold War was the MiG-21. One of MANY MiG-21s Was the MiG-21 a good fighter?  Not when compared to American F-16s and F-15s it wasn't.  It had quite a short rang...