inch wrote: ↑07 Sep 2022, 20:26
Let's just hope the government which ever colour down the line before it could get built doesn't decide to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory and cancel and go American, especially if US decides to do a sneaky one and says ok everyone's going for the tempest and f35 sales are dropping let's offer UK or Japan our new 6th gen and that would kill off the tempest in sneaky way saying to which ever government look we really good to you ,suck up to us we offering you our latest tech that we not going to share with anyone else your honoured type of thing,so result UK or Japan kills tempest program and everyone else has to make do with upgraded f35 or French / Germany FCAS or maybe just French FCAS ,so US plc win win ,that's how I would play it
Evening Inch,
I would think Saudi Arabia are ' high' on the Tempest export list, with a requirement to replace their Thypoon and early F15's. They might even become junior partners....
I didn't know the Germans had put a halt to our hoped for tranche two order for the Saudi's?
Keep them well away from Tempest!!!!
The biggest threat to Tempest is F35. I firmly believe LM are looking forward to simplifying the F35 line and ending B and C production. Both models will be running down as US orders for the variants reach completion.
After that, the price of a B model will become extremely expensive, without regular USMC orders to moderate the price.
I think LM will concentrate on an advanced A variant with new avionics and powerplant, then push hard to corner the market post 2030 using every dirty trick in the book!
You can see LM pitching an advanced F35 variant to the Mod, with an increased UK content and perhaps UK assembly.
It's absolutely vital that a Tempest technology demonstrator gets wind under its wings asap, it it can prove its worth and assuming it's backed to the hilt by future UK governments, it stands a fighting chance.
One things for sure, if it becomes an Anglo Japanese programme, it will be on much firmer ground..
We can only hope.