If India selects F-18 Super Hornet

If India selects an American fighter which should it be: F-18 E/F [Super Hornet/Rhino] or F-16 IN [Super Viper] ?

The general public opinion on Rhino is very bad in the U.S because of its aerobatic cripples. In case India selects F-18 and they come face to face with Pakistan's F-16s; what would happen?

Ten F-16s take off from Karachi to attack targets in Mumbai. Four Rhinos are on patrol flying over Gujarat and they detect the F-16s first because of their superior Radars. Rhinos call for back up and decide to engage the the Pakistani squadron. Each Rhino has four meteors and six AIM-9xs. Since the F-16s were to attack Mumbai six of them have only air to ground munitions and four F-16s had the same missiles as the Rhinos.

The F-18s with their data links decide to act in coherence. Each Rhino fires two meteors at the incoming Squadron of F-16s. Meteor is very advanced missile and F-16s smaller RADAR does not detect them until too late. Of eight missiles fired four hit the targets. The other F-16s being agile and armed with Sidewinders have a close escape . One F-16 meant for air superiority and three meant to attack ground level targets have been lost.

Pakistani Pilots decide not to turn back and get extra aware.They scan the skies effectively using their datalinks and Radars.They spot the Rhinos as the distance has reduced greatly.The Pakistani F-16s fire eight meteors in all two at each rhino.

The Rhino much closer now uses its RADAR to scan the F-16s and sorts out the three F-16s meant for air superiority. They fire two meteors each at the three F-16s. The Pakistani Meteors close in on the Rhinos. The Rhinos better sensors pick up the missiles and initiates countermeasures. But two Rhinos go down as meteors are pretty hard to jam.

The Indian missiles close in on the F-16s. They try to escape but two meteors per an F-16 proves too much. All the three F-16s go down. the remaining F-16s decide to turn back as they have only two Sidewinders each to defend themselves.

Final Score:

F-18 E/F [Super Hornet/Rhino]: 7

F-16 IN [Super Viper]: 2

Conclusions:

F-18 has better sensors than F-16 and hence can pick up targets at a much longer range.

F-18 has better jammers and countermeasures and hence better chance to survive a missile attack.

F-18 has better RCS and hence is harder to detect than F-16s.

MMRCA-The White Elephant?

MMRCA or Medium Muti-Role Combat Aircraft is the largest Indian Military Project today. The Indian Air Force[IAF] plans to buy 126 fighter aircraft to keep the falling numbers of fighters In IAF. The Government invited global tenders and now six aiecrafe from various nations are competing for the Project.
Six aircraft: F-16IN & F-18E/F from the US; MiG-35 from Russia; Eurofighter from European Consortium; JAS-39 from Sweden and Rafale from France are now competing to win the Indian order of 126 fighter aircraft.
We will analyse what each fighter has to offer in detail.
F-16 IN Super Viper Block 70:

Advantages:

>F-16 is probably the most sold aircraft in modern history.
>F-16 has never been shot down in combat. Its combat record is 72-0.
>The version offered to India called; F-16 IN Block 70; will be the most advanced F-16 ever according to the manufacturer: Lockheed Martin.
>It is quite affordable around $ 50 million per aircraft.
Disadvantages:

>Pakistan operates F-16 Block 52 and knows the strengths and weaknesses of the aircraft.
>F-16 has been in service since 1978. Though the fighter has been upgraded thoroughly, all the F-16s in the U.S Air Force will be replaced by the advanced F-35 gradually 2013 onwards.
>So if we order F-16 now we will get all 126 only around 2020 and we then it will be an old fighter.
>Spares will be very expensive and future upgrades will be impossible because USAF will phase out the fighter.
Rank among the MMRCA Contenders: 6
F-18 E/F Super Hornet: The F-18 Super Hornet is the main fighter of the U.S Navy.

Advantages:
>F-18 E/F is highly durable.
>It is very easy and affordable to maintain.
>It has the most mature AESA RADAR: The AN/APG-79; operational in the world. The only better RADAR on a fighter is the APG-77 on the F-22.
>It is undergoing a number of upgrades. A stealthy Block III variant is being developed. Also, its RADAR is being upgraded into an "advanced capability" APG-79 and the engine performance is also being enhanced.
>The Super Hornet can be used in many roles like an AWACS and Electronic Warfare. It has a dedicated variant called E-18 Growler for the latter purpose.
Disadvantages:
>F-18 is not very fast or aerobatic when compared to modern fighters. This could be a huge disadvantage when dodging enemy missiles and in close combat with other fighters [called dogfights].
>Transfer of Technology and other restrictive agreements demanded by the U.S. would be a real downer . India would end up with a weapon which it has paid for but cannot use as per its requirements.
Rank among the MMRCA contenders: 2

MiG-35 Fulcrum-F:

Advantages:

>MiG-35 has many commonalities with MiG-29 which IAF already operates. Hence India can induct it spending the least amount of money, effort and time.

>Russia has offered complete Tranfer of Technology. Russia has also offerd to help India make its own advanced RADAR.

>It also has an AESA RADAR.

>India need not fear western sanctions to affect its national security as Russia is a time tested partner of India.

Diadvantages:

>It is just an upgraded MiG-29 and hence not a very wise option.

>It will keep India dependent on Russia. Indian Military will become Russian monopoly.

>It is outdone on all major factors like range,payload,RADAR capability e.t.c by India's Su-30 MKI [Flanker-H] which also costs approximately the same.

Rank among MMRCA contenders: 3

Eurofighter Typhoon:

Eurofighter Typhoon is the best fighter in contention atleast in its near future avatar. It is highly manouverable and has excellent sensors and capabilities. Its salient features are:

• It has excellent aerobatics and vectored thrust engines which means it is the hands down winner in a dogfight or close range fighting.
• An AESA RADAR called CAESAR is being developed for the fighter. It is claimed that it would be the best in business when it gets ready.
  
• It can deliver every weapon in NATO inventory including the Precision Guided Munition[PGM], AMRAAM, AIM-9x Sidewinder, ASRAAM and a whole range of new weapons like Meteor, Storm Shadow .............. The list just goes on.
• It can have any of the latest targeting pods including LITENING G4.

Its most remarkable feature is the protective suit for the pilots which enable the pilot make 9g manouvers consistently without passing out.

Disadvantages:

• It is very expensive.
• Some of the technology is reliant on the U.S and hence transfer of technology could be a problem.
• It is not a battle proven platform.