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by slaw
15 days ago
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> An aircraft doesn’t need to be modern - it needs to shot down the other before it gets shot down. Frontal RCS of the Gripen C/D between 0.1 m2 and 1.5 m2 Frontal Radar Cross-Section (RCS) of the F-35 roughly between 0.001 m2 and 0.005 m2 Gripen is an old airframe useless in modern combat. It will be shot down from far away. |
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By what exactly?
The military don’t exist in a vacuum - and the equipment they need varies with mission requirements. That’s why the A-10s had its life extended: because it is a better fit than the F-35 for ground support missions. Same applies to the B-52 and the B-2.
The operational cost of the F-22 and F-35 alone make them a poor fit unless you are engaging highly sophisticated air defenses, something the US haven’t done since WWII.
The requirement to be able to neutralise American aircraft is a new one for European (and Canadian) air forces, but one that’ll be tackled.