On Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:29:46 GMT, Chad Irby wrote:
In article ,
"Paul J. Adam" wrote:

Equivalent value, the Raptor is outnumbered: it's better but not _that_
much better.

The Raptor *might be* outnumbered, if everyone in Europe follows through
with their complete purchasing plans.

For this comparison to be meaningful implies a war between the USA
and Europe, which is unlikely. More meaningfdul is how
cost-effective the planes are. An F-22 costs the same as 2.5
Typhoons or 6 Gripens. The F-22 is likely a very capable plane; but
it is that much better?

And in some areas (radar cross-section, for example), it's in a
completely different class. Having a neatokeen Eurofighter won't help,
if the other side can see you from four times as far away as you can see
them. In a head to head fight, the Raptor will be killing Typhoons
while the Typhoons would still be trying to get a target lock.

The Typhoon's radar is also a problem. Since the Typhoon wasn't
designed to be a stealth fighter, the radar they picked isn't a
low-detection type (like the Raptor's). The Raptor will often be
*acquiring* Typhoons before the Typhoon even knows it's being looked at.

Given that the signal level at the target aircraft will be billions
(or more) of times stronger than the signal that gets back to the
radar, I suspect that's unlikely.

On current trends the RAF will get more Typhoons than the USAF will
Raptors...

Nope. The US plans on buying 339 Raptors (and with the changes over the
last two years, will probably have to buy more),

According to http://www.awgnet.com/shownews/03paris/aircraft09.htm,
276 are being purchased.

while England only
currently plans to buy 232 Typhoons.

England is buying none. The UK is buying 232. Total orders for the
Typhoon are 638 (including the Austrian order but not the Greek
one).

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