This aircraft is hardly new to the inventory and I fear this is a costly white elephant that is less capable and more needy than the aircraft it was brought in to rreplace. Thank you for the clear explanation E.S.
Surely this is a bit overly dramatic? It seems that the the idea is to get value for money out of the older aircraft first. This may not have been the best idea from the point of view of exports but surely the Typhoon will be an excellent replacement when the time comes and will grow into an enormous improvement? In the meantime, presumably when Typhoons are based in the Baltic republics they earn their keep as a quite serious deterrent?