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The F-5E/F Tiger II was a follow-on upgrade to the wildly successful F-5 Freedom Fighter, a low-budget aircraft designed to capture the lower tier of the non-Soviet global fighter market in the 1960s and 1970s. A number of countries still operate F-5s, but the airframes are very old. The Swiss bought 72 F-5E/F fighters in 1976, and another 38 in 1981, for a total of 110 (98 single-seat F5E, 12 two-seat F-5F).
At present, the competitors are BAE/Saab (JAS-39 Gripen), Boeing (F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet), Dassault (Rafale), and EADS (Eurofighter Typhoon). With an expected budget of just CHF 2.2 billion (currently about $2 billion/ EUR $1.36 billion).
EADS' Eurofighter, for instance, would yield about 10-12 aircraft within those constraints
(Boeing's F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet It is difficult to imagine a scenario in which the Swiss budget yields much more than 15-18 aircraft, though continued decline in the US dollar could help some.
Can Dassault keep its price to about EUR 50 million flyaway per plane (i.e. 20-24 aircraft within the budget), and offer weapon integration relief?
An offer of 30-34 JAS-39 C/D aircraft that could mirror Switzerland's 3 squadrons with 33 Hornets may be within the realm of financial possibility
Norway has been running a purchasing process for a while, and has now commissioned FMV, the Swedish Defence Material Administration, to submit a binding offer for up to 48 aircraft.
Other upgrades are also in the works. Saab's JAS-39N submission to Norway, for instance, touts the AESA radar and a new engine while offering a heavier aircraft with more fuel capacity (empty weight adds 300 kg to 7,100 kg4, max. takeoff weight rises from 14,000 kg to 16,000 kg); increased external and internal fuel capacity (internal fuel rises 38%, and… an increase from 8 to 10 weapons/fuel pylons; new and repositioned landing gear; plus improved computing and avionics including satellite communication, Link 16 capability added to the Gripen's existing datalink [done, see June 11/07 entry below], and improved electronic warfare via jammer pod integration and other measures.
“In Hungary we just don’t have large numbers of aircraft to train with, but in Spring Flag we faced COMAO (combined air operations) packages of 20, 25 or 30 aircraft. The training value for us was to work with that many aircraft on our radar – and even with our limited experience we could see that the Gripen radar is fantastic. We would see the others at long ranges, we could discriminate all the individual aircraft even in tight formations and using extended modes. The jamming had almost no effect on us – and that surprised a lot of people.”
“Other aircraft couldn’t see us – not on radar, not visually – and we had no jammers of our own with us. We got one Fox 2 kill on a F-16 who turned in between our two jets but never saw the second guy and it was a perfect shot.”
Originally posted by tomcat ha
Im suprized myself that the Griphen hasnt sold well yet. I heared some bad stories about maintainance but is that it?
Originally posted by merka
The Gripen is only a 4th generaton fighter, dating back to the 1980's... Its a nice aircraft, but the Draken was cooler. They should have modernized it instead. Its futuristic design owned every other plane at the time.
Originally posted by kilcoo316
Sorry, but the Gripen is far more than any bog standard 4th gen fighter.
Originally posted by Harlequin
\ US lobbying not included