Rich Sandor

Bang for the buck doesn't mean dick all when you are in a dogfight. No fighter pilot in a knife fight is going to say, yeah you may out-corner me, but my plane is cheaper.

The Gripen is a great a/c, no doubt, but given equal pilots, the Raptor would win any air to air engagement, due to it's stealth and joint radar capabilities, and speed/edurance.

As far as being an effective ground attack platform, that depends more on the munitions and weather, than the plane itself. (I speak from experience here...)

I'm not slamming the Gripen at all, it's just that it's very subjective to say that this plane is the most cost-effective, or accurate, or has the best record, blah blah blah.

Leave it at this: It's a wicked jet, I like it, but it's not the best.