Originally Posted by
Declan275
(very informative post snipped)
Anyway, TL/DR version - lease Gripens for ten years and see what happens.
1. That seems a good idea. There's an old (semi humorous) Texan adage that goes something like "If it floats, flies, or fcuks, lease it don't buy it!" (The tricky part, I suspect, would come with how one sets up the support/spares/maintenance effort, and the budgeting of the training/readiness budget for ongoing operations).
2. Thanks for a good summary of how things look in the Emerald Isle. As one who sees things from the western side of the pond (the only Irish I served with were Northern Ireland folk in the RN and RAF when I was in NATO) I've noted with some interest (when I was serving) how vigorously Ireland declares its neutrality. Ireland certainly has contributed units to a variety of peacekeeping ops over the years: SFOR is an op I am//was quite familiar with.
Your insights are helpful in aiding my understanding, thanks again.