
madrat wrote:They were short-sighted to aim for anything less than an F-16 userbase to pickup customers unable to afford long term F-35 costs. You were unlikely to go head to head with F-35 for sales, but you have more dry thrust in the engine and most potential customers already have the supply line established for its use. Maybe you even go for an internal bay.
They actually have gone head to head with F-35 in the past, but they are learning that if a country wants the F-35, they're going to buy the F-35 regardless. As they pointed out in one of the Nordic competitions, when the results of the competition were published the announced cost of the F-35 was so low that Sweden could literally give them the Gripen E for free and the F-35 would still come out cheaper. in the reported analysis That's one of the other reasons they're not bidding in some contests where they realize that no matter what they have no chance of winning.
Boeing has started to realize the same thing. They have also withdrawn from the Belgian fighter competition. "We regret that after reviewing the request we do not see an opportunity to compete on a truly level playing field..."
I believe they are targeting the F-16/18 user base. Going for an internal bay on the Gripen E would have drastically increased costs and would have made the aircraft a larger one, which wold pushed up design, procurement and operating costs.