Well, I'm not entirely sure. The MWF and mirage 2000 will have very similar empty weights and possibly dimensions as well. Now consider that the mirage had an engine - M53, almost the same weight and length as the al31, and we see that things might not be so out of the realm of possibility.fanne wrote: AF-31- I have no doubt that the plane will need to grow in size (in fact bigger than MWF, which may not be a bad thing, we get a multi-role entry level fighter that is no longer a poor man choice in the line of GNAT, Mig 21 and LCA, forever restricted on range) - and thus be costlier etc. (and some bases e.g. Srinagar and Awantipur infra have to be expanded to accommodate these). At that point, while we continue with overall engine development, a la Kaveri, we should own AL-31 and produce 100% of it inhouse (with RU help if possible, without there help or in spite of their help). We are at x% already there (50% to 80% depending on what media report you want to believe).
I am not advocating (like Philips may) moving LCA with AL-31. The current path with 404/414 is the best. But should sanction come in play, there is a way out.
The MWF is going to need drastic changes compared to the current mk1. And will take an easy 10 years. I don't see why they should be limited to the f414.
Even worse, the 414 will not result in a much better twr than the mk1 considering the increase in weight. Especially when they add on another ton for the naval version. So all in all, we are likely to see the underpowered issue to rear it's ugly head again especially if there are nefarious powers in decision making circles that want to scuttle Desi efforts, as BRFites often suggest.
Going with a larger Al 31 type engine mitigates all these issues including CAATSA related shit.
