Roger Conroy wrote:

On Nov. 5, 3:53 am, dumbstruck wrote:


On Nov. 3, 3:24 am, Tiger wrote:



India's AF is looking to make a huge purchase & production deal. $10
Billion dollars for 126 aircraft. They are looking to replace their Mig
21's. There are about 6 Firms/ planes up for consideration.
Eruofighter Typhoon
Saab Gripen
Boeing's F-18
Lock Mart's F16
Mig's 29 & 35
Dassualt's Rafale & Mirage series


So if you had $10 Billion to spend? What would you buy for your force??
Keep in mind the needs of India, the potential foes & that any US plane
come with political strings attached (like Pakistanis f-16 deal).


Rough field capability would be a plus; do the Saab and Mig offerings
still favor that? Eurofighter and Dassualt are probably very motivated
to negotiate price, but maybe Mig most of all... logical winner?




Snip fantasy............

I'd say go with the SAAB. Avoid the political "strings attached" that
come with buying from "Uncle Sam" or from "Brother Russia".
The Grippen is a really good 5th generation multirole fighter, way
ahead the F16 and F18 are antique designs that are really at the end
of their useful life. The TCO is a lot lower too and so is ease of
maintenance.




I'm a Saab fan as well. However...... Just to throw another curve into
the job requirements. India's Navy is Buying/ building new Ski jump
equipped carriers to replace the ex-HMSHermes. They are slated to use
Mig 29-K Naval versions of the MIG. The Built in naval capability of
the Raffale and small size make it a contender as well. France also
lacks the political strings.