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Old 2nd Jan 2008, 04:44
  #22 (permalink)  
garudadude
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Australasia
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There is some excellent literature out there, written by the man who is arguably Australia's most knowledgable air power strategist, promoting the signficant advantages of the Aardvark over 'the bug'.
I personally think that Kraziman's comments, whilst clearly tongue in cheek, are not principally flawed. The EF is outdated and obsolete - take a quick look at what is coming out of Russia these days and anybody who knows the first thing about 4th and 5th gen fighter A/A tactics can see that the EF with a mech scanned array (and the significant limitations that this has in a multi-role aircraft) is quickly becoming obsolete.
Rafael and Gripen - I'm glad nobody has touted these as serious competitors..... two words - system integration.
Flanker Family - Aren't we trying to buy/build stuff that, in the event of a contingency against our most likely adversaries, will allow us to shoot these clowns down?
F22 - I don't think anybody has ever said that the raptor isn't clearly the best option for when you 'absolutely and positively need to kill every MF in the room...' - but cost/mission requirements/availability to foreign purchasers... the guys who are paid to know, are 'briefed in' and do this work for a living thought the JSF would be a better option 'for Australia.
The only real solution is to extend the life on the F-111, put an ESA in the front of it and load it up with AMRAAMS / Meteors. I'm sure that with some radar absorbent paint and maybe some plasma in the wings, it would be a gun A/A player while still being able to fly a bazillion miles and engage multiple surface targets.
GD
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