giles14:
heehehehheehe I love Chinese products. so I am not disputing dat

patches689:


I dont like it either

It alos means we would get sh1tty chinese vessels... a crime when such lovely platforms are on offer from the private sector

And it will mean that we will be giving the Chinese access to one of the most restricted sites in the country

While further... whats the point in assembling something from China? Welding LEGO together does not build up skills.

This whole thing stinks, I used to see Biro as an exciting oppertunity, now I am waiting for the announcement with dread

giles14:
u dey mind d RSA's think n see d Chinese as technology thieves,forgetting dat most of those their acclaimed weapon were developed and transferred to dem by Israel during d apartheid era.

ActivateKruger:


WTF? Is that a bee mask?

tdayof:
LOL. what is it with this technology stealing ish? The Chinese really lost their respect.

patches689:


I dont like it either

It alos means we would get sh1tty chinese vessels... a crime when such lovely platforms are on offer from the private sector

andrewza:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnSoxqLHbD8



ONLY RUSSIA

giles14:
u dey mind d RSA's ,dey think n see d Chinese as technology thieves,forgetting dat most of those their acclaimed weapon were developed and transferred to dem by Israel during d apartheid era

giles14:
u dey mind d RSA's ,dey think n see d Chinese as technology thieves,forgetting dat most of those their acclaimed weapon were developed and transferred to dem by Israel during d apartheid era

MikeCZA:
Not necessarily.


Mostly of our 70s and 80s era weapon systems originated from CSIR researches. Vehicles, missiles and EW.

patches689:


transferred not stolen

Thats the difference

giles14:





u pple should keep on deceiving n fooling urslfs

Algeria is Testing The C-27J Spartan transport plane in Boufarik Air Base DAAB

chkil:

may be the same thing that use some israelian SF

giles14:





u pple should keep on deceiving n fooling urslfs

Henry240:


That's decent. 8 Gripen C/D models to replace 12 CF-5s. The Gripen are the best platform for them, however my problem with the Gripen is it's price, no offence to the South-Africans, but the Gripen C/D does not offer the capabilities required of a $65 million a pop aircraft. I don't see the value for money. If the Botswanans are going for off-the shelf Gripens, from Swedish surplus stock, that would be great.


So definitely Namibia would get the J-10. That's good to read. Yeah, the 3 units of F-7 you lost to the hangar crash, anyway, the time for the F-7 is across the board is coming to an end. Virtually all Nations are now replacing their 3 GEN fighters.

giles14:
u dey mind d RSA's ,dey think n see d Chinese as technology thieves,forgetting dat most of those their acclaimed weapon were developed and transferred to dem by Israel during d apartheid era

giles14:
u dey mind d RSA's ,dey think n see d Chinese as technology thieves,forgetting dat most of those their acclaimed weapon were developed and transferred to dem by Israel during d apartheid era

andrewza:



That 65million was not the unit cost and included spareas, simulatorers and a host of things. Is the china deal including a logstcal support deal, or will they have to buy the parts in china and have a china tech install it.

patches689:


I dont like it either

It alos means we would get sh1tty chinese vessels... a crime when such lovely platforms are on offer from the private sector

And it will mean that we will be giving the Chinese access to one of the most restricted sites in the country

While further... whats the point in assembling something from China? Welding LEGO together does not build up skills.

This whole thing stinks, I used to see Biro as an exciting oppertunity, now I am waiting for the announcement with dread

ActivateKruger:


The opposition should enquire why a foreign company has been given access to our strategic naval base especially since no contract has been formally awarded.

andrewza:



That 65million was not the unit cost and included spareas, simulatorers and a host of things. Is the china deal including a logstcal support deal, or will they have to buy the parts in china and have a china tech install it.

giles14:
believe it or not d gripens are expensive and over rated.
Botswana =$98m+
Brazil =$100m+

Henry240:


No chief. All sources i've seen quote the Gripen at 65million a unit doesn't include spares/accessories. The Gripen C/D costs more than the MIG-35, a fighter that comes with AESA, advanced Data-link, more powerful engines, lot more hard-points. I feel for a light fighter, the Gripen should be at most $30 million a unit.


The Namibians haven't signed a contract for the J-10 yet, so we cannot say for sure.

patches689:


Brazil's deal is expensive because it is for the latest Gripen which is a whole generation ahead.

It also includes funds for the development of the "sea-gripen" for their carrier.

The fact that people are willing to pay so much for the Gripen shows that it is not over-rated.

tdayof:
I'll go got the F35 instead just that it won't be sold to an African country.
Gripen is overrated. It's sure a good aircraft but the price tag is too high.

Souljaboi1:




The same F-35 that has been riddled with problems since its first flight. One was even on fire at around midday on Friday at the Air Force Base at Idaho.

I still feel the F-16 is the most successful fighter program of the USAF.

Earlier this year, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, said that an IRIAF (Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force) F-4 Phantom combat plane attempted to intercept a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying in international airspace off Iran.

As we reported back then, one of the two F-4 Phantom jets came to about 16 miles from the UAV but broke off pursuit after they were broadcast a warning message by two American planes escorting the Predator.

The episode happened in March 2013, few months after a two Sukhoi Su-25 attack planes operated by the Pasdaran (informal name of the IRGC – the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution) attempted to shoot down an American MQ-1 flying a routine surveillance flight in international airspace some 16 miles off Iran, the interception of the unmanned aircraft failed. After this attempted interception the Pentagon decided to escort the drones involved in ISR (intelligence surveillance reconnaissance) missions with fighter jets (either F-18 Hornets with the CVW 9 embarked on the USS John C. Stennis whose Carrier Strike Group is currently in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility or F-22 Raptors like those deployed to Al Dhafra in the UAE.

New details about the episode were recently disclosed by Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh who on Sept. 17 not only confirmed that the fighter jets providing HVAAE (High Value Air Asset Escort) were F-22 stealth fighters but also said that:

“He [the Raptor pilot] flew under their aircraft [the F-4s] to check out their weapons load without them knowing that he was there, and then pulled up on their left wing and then called them and said ‘you really ought to go home'”

If the episode went exactly as Welsh described it, it was something more similar to Maverick’s close encouter with Russian Mig-28s in Top Gun movie than a standard interception.

It would be interesting to know how the Raptor managed to remain stealth (did they use their radar? were they vectored by an AWACS? etc.) and why it was not the E-2 most probably providing Airborne Early Warning in the area to broadcast the message to persuade the F-4 to pursuit the drone before the Iranian Phantoms and the U.S. Raptors got too close in a potentially dangerous and tense situation?

tdayof:
The F35 has issues but still remain capable. The F22 is my favorite and I still consider it the best. If Nigeria operates the F35, we will consider the problem as minor but for the American they need something perfect.