Cold war European combat aircraft alternatives?

[tomo pauk]

Does not include the Soviet designs, though; these could use their own thread.

The countries in play are the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, as well as Spain, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia - basically an country that have either small or big capacity to make a combat jet, even a small one. If the design is a major rework of an US or Soviet type, it can also play.

To start it out: the Jaguar with the better powerplant. Something that can give to it extra 20-30 kN vs. the two Adours, in preferably just one engine per A/C. That, and the historical capabilities, might make it a stronger contender on the commercial market.

 

[bf109xxl]

the Jaguar with the better powerplant. Something that can give to it extra 20-30 kN vs. the two Adours, in preferably just one engine per A/C. That, and the historical capabilities, might make it a stronger contender on the commercial market.

What for? What exactly was Jaguar lacking? Based on the results of Desert Storm, Jaguar proved to be practically ideal for its tasks.

 

[bf109xxl]

I don't even know if it's worth mentioning the TSR.2 - this sad story is probably known to all aviation enthusiasts without exception.

 

[tomo pauk]

French going early on with a really modern canard-delta fighter instead of the Mirage 2000. Don't make it look like the warmed-up Mirage III (yes, the 2000 was a far more capable aircraft). This also means that the ventral or semi-ventral air intakes are part of the design, like on the Lavi or on the Rafale, respectively - these intakes work much better under the high angle of attack maneuvers than the 'Mickey Mouse' intakes used by Dassault before Rafale. The more bubble-top canopy, and possibly also the dog-tooth shape for the wings?
Might've make the product an even better sell, especially in the hungry years of 1990-2010.
Adding a 2D, or even better a 3D nozzle would've also been great.

 

[bf109xxl]

Maybe the Scimitar didn't reach its full potential, and the Super Scimitar would've been more effective as a strike aircraft than the F-4 and Buccaneer.

 

[GTX]

Hawker P.1121 making it into production/operational service:

 

[GTX]

Similarly, the Hawker P.1154 making it to flying hardware/operational service:

 

[SaparotRob]

Looks like a big Harrier.

 

[tomo pauk]

Hawker P.1121 making it into production/operational service:

That one would've been a success, both for the RAF and for export.

If that fails...
The British 1-engined attacker going low and far, made perhaps because they don't find the NATO-wide politics of the 1960s amusing.
That might've been a jet size and shape of the F-105. Engine - the afterburning version of the AF-41, that also feeds the boundary layer control system. Wing is also well mechanized, so the low-speed abilities are as good as possible. A 2-seater, with upgraded electronics from the Buccaneer.

 

[GTX]

Looks like a big Harrier.

In some respects it was and indeed, it was the original Harrier.

Hawker Siddeley P.1154 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[tomo pauk]

SAAB Draken sweeping the floor with competition?
This obviously includes that political card were shuffled in a different way - perhaps even the early discovery of the Lockheed bribery scandal early enough, coupled with Swedes being less strict on military export -so here it goes. Possible buyers include Germany, Italy, Belgium, Norway, Italy, Turkey, Greece, S. Korea, Japan, Australia. This obviously means that the licence production is agreed where plausible.
One of the best assets of the Draken was it's electronics, that was also a reason why it was expensive - so for example the Swiss decided on making/buying the Mirage and F-5. So making a version with simple electronics would've also bite off from the Dassault pie, as well as from Northrop's (Iran also says 'Hello').
The bombed-up Drakens were also rather capable. Keep the electronics simple, and might've been a good alternative for the Jaguar, Mirage V and A-7? Licence production in India? Italians make it instead of the AMX, while Argentina and Pakistan buy the 2nd hand pieces.
Not having the American engines is also a boon from the commercial side of things. There are no problems with the early J79 engine, that doomed a number of the F-104s.

The possibilities are endless