Aaanywaaay, since the hype is on right now, shall we talk about what kind of weapon systems that our air force will also acquire to arm those new jets?
As I recall somewhat vaguely, there was a talk in the MinDef that we will no longer purchase military hardwares with FBNW (and NSFW
) status. If that what we'll get, so I think for Rafale we'll also have MICA IR and EM missiles for AA purpose. Not sure about Meteor although one can only hope.
Then for ground attack, Hammer missiles. Anti ship, Exocet of course. Any other ideas?
For the F-15EX, more AMRAAM and Sidewinders for air to air. We'll gonna need a strike weapon with more range like
AGM-158 JASSM although I'm not placing my bets on it. On the other hand, I think the AGM-88 HARM is a safe bet since we'll need something in the same function as the anti radar version of Kh-31.
All in all, I do hope that our officials also seriously considering to acquire more guided munitions. Even something like JDAM kit for our dumb bombs is okay.