kingkhong79 and Fairyland, I agree with you point that if the
NGF is to be looked at purely from the standpoint of a stopgap
fighter to keep our edge in a regional sense until the F-35 is
ready, then an F-15 would make more sense than the other 2
contenders. But think about it, are things really that
simple?
Lets start with things that are going on right now. We have been
blindsided by the Yanks on tech transfer issues on many many
angles. The point is, Singapore doesn't want to be purely an
"end-user" of the military equipment it buys. We want to be able to
upgrade it, integrate more weapons on it, other gizmos on it, allow
it to operate more seamlessly with the other pieces of hardware in
the inventory. How are we going to do that when the Yanks hold us
to ransom to that all the time, and more often than not, is subject
to the vagaries of whos in the White House. Is that what you
want?
Then, lets go crystal ball gazing and look into the future. The
F-35 program has its share of problems. Even if it arrives on
schedule in 2012, when can we get our first ones? 2015? 2020? 2025?
Ever? There is already increasing rumblings that to see the F-35
program through, someone other than the Americans are going to have
to stump up the cash. The Yanks have the F-22 and a whole bunch of
other projects and by their own admissions, the F-35, while not on
the backburner, is not a top priority for defense funds. When a
program demands more and more money that simply isn't available,
only one thing can happen. If the unhinkable happens and the F-35
is cancelled, we'll be stuck with 2 1970s design to hold the fort.
At 2020, our oldest C/D Vipers will be more than 25 years old. A
saying about a dead horse springs to my mind.
That is not to say getting the 2 Euro-canards don't have their own
downsides. I'm just not advocating blindly going "Go Yankees" here.
Look at the big picture.
