China to sell weapons to Kenya

risai said:

ya the air force though about it. f-18. it a good bird and the working platform i.e inboard comp. can be upgrade to give a good punch. normally we are not worried about the MiG-29 which ever model it is.But the Su-27 ya they give us a chill. the MiG-29smt is just an upgrade version of a MiG-29 has alot of short coming it smokes alot and consumes alot of fuel in dog fights. am not sure if the SMT upgrade have the new RD-33 engines or if Sudan have upgrade there Migs to that standard.

if you talk about the MiG-35 that a match to consider thinking. actually the MiG 29 was meant to operate in Russia boarders under lots of ground assistance. the F-18 if you look at the superhornet class is a good bird the Americans were ready to offer it to the Indians when the I.A.F tender the supply of over 120 jets. this was Americans counter for the MIG,s Mirage, Su, etc. and to rival Pakistan's F-16. think about it that way.
at the moment Russian Air Force grounded all its MiG-29s following a crash in Siberia on 17 October, 2008

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PrOeLiTeZ said:

kenya doesnt have large budget to acquire expensive birds like F-18, Su-27, Mig-35. Double engines cost lots to maintain and service. So single engine fighters are more then sufficient, since they dont need that much range in protecting their airspace. F-16 is probs would be the most highest they should aim for, but FC-1/JF-17 should be more then sufficient in Kenya needs.

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The Russian Air Force has begun an upgrade programme for 150 of its MiG-29 fighters, which will be designated MiG-29SMT. The upgrade comprises: increased range and payload, new glass cockpit, digital fly-by-wire control system, new avionics, improved radar, KOLS infrared search and track (IRST) and an in-flight refuelling probe. The radar will be the Phazotron Zhuk-ME which is capable of tracking ten targets to a maximum range of 245km.

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Chaminuka said:

I agree with you on the single vs twin engine - hence my earlier comment on the F-18s and F-16s.

In terms of need, with Ethiopia and Sudan with Flankers and Fulcrums, I think the need for something more powerful is there. The F-16s will have to be to a respectable spec. If indeed Sudan's Fulcrums are SMTs, here is a brief of the upgrade from

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Wasn't Tanzania romoured to be trying to get MiG-29s two or three years ago?

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risai said:

yes it true Kenya's defense budget is only 2% of it GDP and for the Blogs informention we when never consider buying Su, or the Mig 35. when it comes to managing twin engine jets we done for the last 30yrs by the F-5E/F.

the F-16 is a well admire fighter by many but only countries that have an extensive back up airsupport system like AWACS and advance survillance radars can enjoy it. take it from the horse mouth. if your to put the F-16C on a one to one engagments i.e dogfights with a low budget fighter like a Mig 29 of a same upgrade with equally trained pilots it will loss 4:1. this has been proven in the kargil war between the I.A.F MiG 29 vs P.A.F F-16, isreal F-16 vs MiG 23 of syria, India airforce vs USAF in a training they had. Germany air force have also test in among there Mig 29 squdrons. Kenya is not therefore willing to be added to that list.

we in Kenya believe the the F-5 gave birth to the F-16 and a well upgraded F-5 is as good as a F-16 plus minus.with our intense train on the F-5 it will be uneconomical to buy the F-16 to replace or fill the gap of the f-5. this would be basically be digging a hole to cover other hole. the F-18 is in a class of it own it engine and performs out range more western fighters esp.F-16. the Fc-1 as suggested is still yet to prove itself. it is not wise to buy a aircraft that has never been airborne esp. from China. The looming threat we have from mainly Ethopia and there Su-27 is real. they have from time to time wished to have a war with Kenya.Incross border raids and so forth. from Kenyas Military survey atleast a used squdron or 3 F-18A/B (2 A models and 1 B model) have them upgraded with a Chile firm would have changed the balance of airpower.but since the end of user agreements with many F-18 users and most user were not also will to part with there birds Luck was not on our side. we then opted to added more F-5. we have a alot of experince with the F-5 and it is very reliable.

both the parkistanis and isreal were disappointed with the F-16 and decide to build a better copy of it. the pakistanis built the F-17 better know as JF-17/FC-1 Thunder.

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Semi-Lobster said:

I personally think, rather than the F-5E, the Atlas Cheetah C/D would have made an excellent to the Kenyan Air Force. Not only would it strengthen ties between Kenya and South Africa, the Atlas is built on solid, recent experience against Cuban MiG-23s in the Border War combined with advanced Israeli technology in a very cost effective package now that South Africa has retired its final Cheetah C last year.

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Since at one stage in my career, I had to measure performance improvements to the cheetah on some programs ... ... Yes the cheetah C was limited to Mach 1.8, but even that speed was almost impossible to reach because of the extra drag of the Cheetah compared to the mirage III/V/50. ... ... The initial rate of climb was probably closer to 30 000 ft / minute. Not a slouch but remember that the English Electric, lightning, a much older aircraft than the basic mirage IIIc was capable of over 50 000. This is a theoretical sea level rate of climb and the rate of climb drops off rapidly with altitude. ... ... The maximum sustained turn rate of the Cheetah C was about 7°/s at those conditions. Quite measly actually when I have estimated that the F22 is capable of sustaining over 17°/s at the same conditions, that is sustaining 9G. The instantaneous turn rate is the intersection of the G limit and the lift limit (or Angle of attack limit) and the Cheetah C was limited to 7G if I remember correctly. Not up there with modern fighters capable of 9G +. ... ...

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