Spot on LowObs,
Navalising Typhoon would surely prove very difficult (Tarnish, where are you on this?) and I simply do not see it happening. Tranche 3 will probably come into service, partly replacing older Tranche a/c which may go into storage for attrition and partly replacing the GR4 (wishful thinking from a Tonka mate perhaps!!)
Rafale is already at sea and will no doubt work well once the jigsaw is complete. I'm all for buying it, even if it is just to p*ss on Bush's fire.
I think that many of us are becoming sick and tired of how the US is treating the UK. Blair shows absolutely no back bone when it comes to standing up to the US and I commend Dr Reids shot across the bow, well done that man. Now just stand by your guns and reload!
As for comparing Typhoon to the F16 Block 60, get real. The potential for expansion with Typhoon's airframe and onboard technology far out weighs anything the F16 will produce in the future. Raptor is eating up too much of the DoDs budget, hence the cuts in orders. Dollar for Dollar, I'd take Typhoon with Storm Shadow, Meteor, AMRAAM, ASRAAM etc etc any day of the week.
