On or about Mon, 10 Nov 2003 17:02:29 GMT, Chad Irby
allegedly uttered:

In article ,
"Paul J. Adam" wrote:

In message , Chad Irby
writes
In article ,
"Paul J. Adam" wrote:
If that were true, then we'd have binned Eurofighter in 1994 and leased
F-16s instead.

Seriously examined and pushed quite hard.

...and bought for a small advantage, for (at least in part) political
reasons.

No, because it would be significantly less capable for not much less
money. The F-16 is a provably superb aircraft but its design is thirty
years old and it's running out of growth room.

You should remember, though, that the Eurofighter's design is over
twenty years old.

As is the F-22. Thanks to extended gestations there aren't any "new"
designs with less than a 10 year history, and at 20 the Typhoon's
about average.

But at that point, if the F-16 had offered a cost-effectiveness
advantage, it would have been bought: there was significant pressure to
walk away from Eurofighter.

There still is, as evidenced by the reduced buys.

Indeed, just like the reductions in buy of F-22, and the cuts in the
required F-18E/F numbers and F-35 numbers. Welcome to the post cold
war era.

---
Peter Kemp

Life is short - Drink Faster