Gripen Fighter Jet

[Albereth]

The old models of air combat where we see - and think ito - dogfights are not as relevant any more. It's about the whole system - an integrated approach. The US for example has assets monitoring and controlling air and ground space (like AWACS). The idea is to shoot opponents down long before there is any contact. The plan is not to get entangled in dogfights. I would hope we (SA) think in the same direction.

Shoosh - I'm playing Quart Cards with Skyhawk.

[garyc]

what so special about the AIM-120 ? as far as i know you cant fit a R 27 or Sd10 on a F15

The AIM-120 has nine combat kills (10 if you include a friendly fire incident). Most of these were against MiG 29s. The R-27 has scored two aircraft damaged, with one of these being contested.

[skyhawk]

Debating about kills will get us nowhere as no side acknowledges loss of aircraft in a war. Dubious claims and counter claims.

The issue at hand is whether The Gripen will do the Job within and outside SA. Sometimes to defend is to attack. I m concerned about the short combat radius of just 800m. is it enough to fly from makhado to a base say in Zim and crater the runways without air refuelling ?

range range range. Israel on learning that Saddam was building a nuclear reactor launched a surprise attack On 7 June 1981, a flight of Israeli Air Force F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As.The distance between Israeli airbases and the reactor was 1 600km The F16s were each carrying 2 1 tonne unguided action delay bombs and air refueling was impossible yet the mission was a success. What if Mad bob.....

[Albereth]

Debating about kills will get us nowhere as no side acknowledges loss of aircraft in a war. Dubious claims and counter claims.

The issue at hand is whether The Gripen will do the Job within and outside SA. Sometimes to defend is to attack. I m concerned about the short combat radius of just 800m. is it enough to fly from makhado to a base say in Zim and crater the runways without air refuelling ?

range range range. Israel on learning that Saddam was building a nuclear reactor launched a surprise attack On 7 June 1981, a flight of Israeli Air Force F-16A fighter aircraft, with an escort of F-15As.The distance between Israeli airbases and the reactor was 1 600km The F16s were each carrying 2 1 tonne unguided action delay bombs and air refueling was impossible yet the mission was a success. What if Mad bob.....

800m isn't very far - like not even to the end of the runway. So I guess you mean miles and if that's in airforce lingo it'll be nautical miles so closer to 1500km. I am sure it can carry external tanks and it is capable of refueling inflight.

I just think that it is a sucky aircraft

[skyhawk]

800m isn't very far - likt

its 800km on internal fuel and 1,550 Km with external fuel

[HavocXphere]

SA has an army of 30 00 personnel

62k+ excluding reservists & paramilitary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tary_personnel

Maybe those numbers are old, but I don't think we misplaced half our military.

Egypt vs Algeria. Sudan vs South Sudan. to mention but a few. Also African countries have been investing in Air superiority fighters since the turn of the century and no country wants to be caught offside.

Egypt...Algeria...Sudan...are all on the other side of the freakin world. Unless we're buying aircraft tankers too we can't even *get* there. I suppose we could negotiate with the 3+ countries where they'd need to stop, but knowing AU politics that'll take months.

Airforce wise SA cannot overwhelm Zim in the event of war.

Dude they can't even keep the lights on. Do you really think they're going to attack the one country keeping them alive?

But yes...mad bob...so lets assume they are crazy enough. We wouldn't attack them, so by default its us defending.

AFZ F-7 are primarily interceptors, so not ideal when attacking. Thats assuming they are even operational. And finally regarding the impressive combat skills of these pilots:

AFZ F-7s flew dozens of combat air patrols in the following months, attempting in vain to intercept transport aircraft

Transport aircraft...thats practically Top Gun stuff. Yep I'm definitely shaking in my boots. Lets buy 100 Eurofighters.

Undoubtedly one can dream up some scenario in which we might need submaries and combat planes. Perhaps if the Autralians attacked us. But realistically we need to weigh our option & invest taxpayer Rands into that which provides the most benefit. Guarding against some hypothetical scenario definitely shouldn't make the list.

[BeVonk!]

Our current military setup is not war ready and equipped. It's a large government job creation item allowed on the budget. It's an organisation that keeps people busy and pays them salaries. Who's going to attack us? The Police is where we need the money/equipment to go because they are involved in a real war ... but SAPS is sadly neglected and infiltrated by corrupt people/syndicates that helps the war on.

[Albereth]

its 800km on internal fuel and 1,550 Km with external fuel

As I said, crappy aircraft.

[Thugscub]

Eish!!! Who or where are we going to to find the pilots or the ground crew to keep these myriad of jets in the air?
Juliass where are you? My hero.

[Albereth]

Eish!!! Who or where are we going to to find the pilots or the ground crew to keep these myriad of jets in the air?
Juliass where are you? My hero.

Myriad? Same aircraft in one- and two-seater configurations. And according to the owners manual you can maintain it with a No 7 Gubbins and a hammer.

But it gave the best deal to the corrupt.

[carstensdj]

Excuse me if this is a silly question... but here goes:

The Automobile side of SAAB does not exist anymore as of quite recently as per Top Gear... Is this the same company that is making the Grippen and Viggen planes? (Obviously it would be a different division of the company)

Now my question is if they couldn't achieve success in the motor sector, what makes their planes so much different?

[garyc]

Excuse me if this is a silly question... but here goes:

The Automobile side of SAAB does not exist anymore as of quite recently as per Top Gear... Is this the same company that is making the Grippen and Viggen planes? (Obviously it would be a different division of the company)

Now my question is if they couldn't achieve success in the motor sector, what makes their planes so much different?

The aircraft and car operations have been totally independant companies since the 1980s. The car division was spun off when it started tanking, just took a long time to finally go bankrupt.

[carstensdj]

The aircraft and car operations have been totally independant companies since the 1980s. The car division was spun off when it started tanking, just took a long time to finally go bankrupt.

Ah i see... Thanks

Next question... How does a country that developed the Rooivalk Attack Helicopter struggle to make a decent decision on what aircraft to buy???

[Albereth]

Ah i see... Thanks

Next question... How does a country that developed the Rooivalk Attack Helicopter struggle to make a decent decision on what aircraft to buy???

Um, because the guys who decided on the Rooivalk were more interested in building a helicopter than lining their pockets?

[carstensdj]

Um, because the guys who decided on the Rooivalk were more interested in building a helicopter than lining their pockets?

Hahaha, good point