AIR FORCES
Air forces throughout the world
Brazil to buy U.S. F-18s instead of French Rafales
According to Le Monde, and Reuters the Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff would much rather have American F/A-18 Super Hornets than buy French Dassault Rafales to upgrade the FAB – Força Aérea Brasileira, the Brazilian Air Force.
Mrs Rousseff would have stated that the American fighter aircraft would be superior to the Rafale when she met with Timothy Geithner current United States Secretary of the Treasury.
One may wonder why as the Rafale is almost superior to the Super Hornet in almost every skill as far as performance is concerned.
Last but not least, the radius of combat of the French fighter is far longer than its rivals. The Brazilian president is to make a decision presently.
However, and particularly because of the range difference, it would not be wise to reject the Rafale in a country as vast as Brazil. Anyway, everybody knows that wisdom has nothing to do with such decision 😉
Photo courtesy: © Xavier Cotton http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com/
AERO INDIA 2011 without MiG-35 fighter aircraft!
The Russian MiG-35 multirole fighter was expected to take part in the Bangalore airshow this month.
However, her mysterious absence has been noticed by the journalists and the other 5 participants of the MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) tender. The F/A18F Super Hornet; the F-16IN Super Viper; the Rafale; the Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon; the Gripen NG; and the MiG-35 are in contention to win the $11 billion tender. The Indian Air Force will then enlarge its fleet with up to 126 multirole fighter aircraft.
After starting this video on the MiG-35, the Russian voice is dubbed in English with a delay of a few seconds:
RAFALE and MiG-35 fighter aircraft to take part in Aero India 2011
The Aero India airshow expects to display the 6 MRCA contenders – the French Rafale; the Russian MiG-35; the U.S. F-16 & F-18; the Swedish JAS 39; and the European Typhoon which all compete for a big tender to propose the Indian Air Force a new multirole fighterjet.
The show will take place near Bangalore at the Yelahanka air force station from February 9th.
Enjoy this video shot during the Paris Airshow 2009: