Qatar to buy 24 Typhoon Fighters

via Sputnik

 Qatari State Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah and UK's Secretary of State of Defense Michael Fallon have signed a preliminary agreement that marks Doha's intention to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from London, UK Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"After a number of years of negotiations between our two countries. I am delighted to have been able to sign today with Qatar’s Defence Minister, this Statement of Intent on the purchase of 24 Typhoon aircraft by Qatar," Fallon said, as quoted in the statement.

Story here. 

What is interesting is that we're looking at market share and maybe a flawed strategy by the F-35 fan club.

How do you sell airplanes to the buy hungry Arab nations if its deemed so sensitive that you can't risk it?

You MUST modernize your current planes or else you lose those sales to foreign competitors.

Can the US afford to lose sales to the Middle East, Africa and Asia?  Can we in essence give those countries/regions to the Russians, Chinese, and Europeans?

That is the threat with the F-35.

We have almost guaranteed two things with the current strategy.

1.  Advanced anti-air systems that can counter stealth will blossom all over the globe.  The idea that the Russians and/or Chinese along with our European allies would allow a system to exist that they couldn't effectively counter is foolish thinking.  That means that those advanced systems will find their way to more and more countries...including third world nations.  By forcing enemies, frenemies and even friendly nations that don't participate in the F-35 to develop counters to stealth we are making our other air power even MORE vulnerable.

2.  All the talk of market domination by the F-35 is pure fantasy.  The time frame for that to be a possibility has long passed (I estimate that if they had delivered the plane by 2014-15 they could have achieved the dream).  The reality is that planes like the Super Hornet, Gripen, Typhoon, SU-27 Variants etc will be around for a long time.  They will be updated, their AESA systems refined and new air to air missiles developed so that they can engage stealth at distance.

Long short.

The dream of global domination is dead for the F-35.  It's competition is still around and countries aren't waiting another five years to buy a wonder plane. They need planes THAT WORK on the ramp now!