troung

It's now down to the Rafale and F-15T. Already the Su-35, MiG-29M, F-18E/F, and JAS-39 have been kicked out as well. All this to replace the A-4SU Skyhawk...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=8213772

LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - Singapore has dropped the Eurofighter (BA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) combat jet from consideration as it prepares to announce the winner of a $1 billion order, an industry source told Reuters on Monday.
The source said only the Rafale jet from France's Dassault (AVMD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and the F-15 from Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) remain in contention.

Officials from all three manufacturers declined to comment.

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Another replay of Korea?

Singapore like Korea has mostly American equipment and an all American fighter line up (F-16C/D, F-5S/T) and American E-2Cs.

Dima

it's all about the Rafale

__________________
for MOTHER MOLDOVA

jgetti

We'll see.

Dima

lol, don't mean to diss the F-15T, i just like the Rafale for its looks, lol, and it also has some impressive capabilities

Anon

Betcha a dollar the F-15 wins...

Dima

yea, i hope the Rafale wins, it hasn't got any major deals at all so far, and it's sucha nice aircraft, but the F-15T will probably win, Singapore's closer to America than France anyways

jgetti

Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that it just might be the better aircraft,,,

ajaybhutani

i think surely the plane matter but the diplomacy too comes into play. About Singapore i dont have much knowledge about its relations with Europe and US. So really cant say how it will effect but there surely will be a lot of diplomacy before the contract is signed. If the order is looked individualy the fighter capabilities and price become the main points but if there are some other stuff involved /attached by one side even the inferior stuff might get thru.

sniperdude411

Rafale is by far my favorite plane. The design is so cool... I used to build model aircraft, but it was a bit expensive after my A-10 model; that thing was AWESOME, but annoying; I had to out the gauss cannon together, and I had to glue individual rounds on the belt,paint them, etc. And I didn't get to see any of that!

troung

"yea, i hope the Rafale wins, it hasn't got any major deals at all so far, and it's sucha nice aircraft, but the F-15T will probably win, Singapore's closer to America than France anyways"

Singapore's A-4SUs are based in France...

But after replacing the A-4SUs they will still have F-16C/Ds and F-5S/Ts in service. They need a deep strike plane to replace the A-4SU. The F-5S/T is to be replaced by the F-35 JSF.

hmmmm.....

Dima

but i didn't say that it was a better aircraft, i just said that "it's all about the Rafale"

personal favourite

but their relations with America are nonetheless better than those with France? is that not true?

jgetti

It may be true,, I don't really know how their relations with France are. However, Singapore is closely watched during such competitions as the rest of the world benchmarks them for their military contract bidding. They are extremely thorough in their selection process, consider all elements, and generally stick strictly to the outlined requirements.

sniperdude411

Good for them; they learn well from the US.
When politics are involved, I'm sure this will get ugly.

Unipidity

I heard somewhere that the F-15K + parts + support were going at $100m apiece. This sounds pricey to me. Anyone got verification, or Rafale comparison figs?

-{SpoonmaN}-

Yeah the Rafale is probably the better aircraft, but Singapore would always pick the US-friendly option. If only Australia didn't do the same cause the JSF is starting to look like it may end up being an F-111 style nightmare.