SU-27

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:

You hit the nail there pD. The Australian government puts the order. That ignorant post though just pissed me off. If you dont like the US products build you own damnit!

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Venezuela has some F-16s for sale!

I hear they want to give them to China.

Yep - would be interesting!

I dont they would be able to use them effectively.

Dangerous assumption. If Venezulea can I expect the Chinese will work it out

Who said the Venezuelans would be successful with the F-16. You have to realize that the no one knows the capabilities of the F-16 better than the US and they would be able to counter either opponents F-16 pretty easily I would guess. I am not talking about Chinese Mig-29's or anything just the F-16's.

I doubt if the USA would have any problems as I think they are F16A machines that they are having trouble maintaining. That being the case they would do well to get them airworthy.

That I believe the Chinese could do.

S-37 is a different plane entirely (later designated SU-47) which was devoloped after the X-29.

As for the SU-27, it was the best when it was first produced, designed to surpass the F-15, which it succeeded in. It is now out of the date but has spawned a whole family of variants. The SU-35 Super Flanker is currently the top on it's line. The F-22 is the best overall fighter of our time, though soon to be surpassed. The SU-35 is basically just an updated and upgraded SU-27. The SU-37 (hence my name) was a modifed SU-35, equipped with TV(Thrust-Vectoring) systems. This meant the engines could pivot in different directions controlling the thrust, making the plane ultra-manueverable. Sukhoi was going to contract a force of SU-37's to the UAE, but the UAE changed their minds and went with the Mirage fighter instead. So their ended up only being one SU-37 built (made for testing), with the tail number '711'. Recently however the 711 was lost in a crash, thus ending the SU-37. However SU-35's will continue to be developed, and when equipped with TV systems, they may decide to retake the designation as SU-37.

While I agree with your assessment that the F-22 is the best fighter today. I doubt that it will be surpassed anytime soon. The Russians do not have the money to develop anything right now.

Keep in mind that Flankers can carry the R27 missiles which can be launched earlier than an AIM-120C carrying F-15, both are roughly equal in detecting the other on radar. F-22 is harder to detect on radar so it can get in closer to be more effective in using the AIM-120C against a Flanker. The Russians are pretty much ahead of the game in missile technology, actually so are the Israelis. Even the Europeans have got a decent ASRAAM now, the US is still fiddling about trying to get the AIM9X working while everyone else has deployed theirs. The Europeans are also working on a longer range missiles than the AIM-120C so the US is failing in that regard as well, they have nothing to replace the AIM-54 now the F-14 is gone.

Another interesting fact is places like Ethiopia have Su-27 Flankers, so they are cheap and affordable, they only have about 6 though.

Instead of whining about America not building something decent why doesn't Australia do the logical thing and buy a bunch of Su-35s and Su-32s? They fit the bill perfectly in every way except they are not American and not good for our alliance (or should that be 'reliance'? ) with America. Indonesia only have a couple of Su-30s and will only get a handful more. They would only be about half the cost of the F-35s and would be available immediately. Build some or at least critical components in Australia as part of the deal like the Chinese did or at least have a large spares store as the Indians have found only intermittent spares supply from Russia due to their laziness .

When Australia first got F/A-18s they were the best thing in the region, now they are just about the worst.

Indonesia has Su-27s, Su-30s and F-16s
Malaysia has F/A-18Cs and MiG-29s
Thailand has F-16s
Singapore has just signed on for F-15s to replace F-16s
India has MiG 29, Su-30, Mirage 2000
China has Su-30s and a ton of other stuff
South Korea has F-15s now
Japan has F-15s
Vietnam has Su-27s
Taiwan has F-16s and Mirage 2000s

Theres a lot of firepower in that region now, at least Australia isn't as bad a New Zealand which doesn't even bother trying anymore.

I think Australia's interest in the F-35 stems from the fact that they've played a small part in it's development, by way of contributing funds. So has Canada, and the Air Force of this country has also expressed interest in that particular fighter.