Originally Posted by
Beamr
But while others provide growlers, globaleyes, loyal wingmen, already have a tech development center in Finland and opportunity for sharing the defense command chain (Saab), more investments in jobs and more likely viability up till 2060's (esp. F35), the Rafale and Typhoon can't be seen as ideal, unless others have c*cked up in their offers.
Very good point!
Typhoon is an excellent Airframe (especially A2A). It's supremely fast, powerful and agile. With AESA, Meteor and IRIS/ASRAAM a mighty Air Superiority platform that can sweep the airspace. On the other hand the Product Support and continued development is rather lackluster compared to F-35 or even Rafale. A2G Typhoon is still behind Tornado in many cpabilities and it is not VLO to compensate for this. There are no 'cool' additions exactly as you mentioned with Loyal wingman&Company. At the same time Typhoon and Rafale are amongst the very most expensive Fighter aircraft on the current market. Honestly, I also don't see big chances in any of the remaining competitions, being it Canada or Finland. And I can't even really blame them.