That's the main reason I think superhornet is better, but I also recognize the Rafale is a better plane. Cooperation with the US Navy is essential, while the French have 0 interest in actually dealing with China.
How can France be an all weather friend if they don't have the capability or desire to help you when it counts most?
From their perspective, they don't want to make a new powerful enemy. And they do not have the capability to protect their overseas territories in the Pacific. So why antagonise an enemy they cannot fight, they believe.
I'm hoping for 10 trillion by 2030. 4% spending 400 billion USD for spending is nice.
We actually don't need that much. Getting to $100B + inflation will do the trick.
We only need 600k troops on the Chinese border and some 400-450 high-end FAs, with the rest, about 500, being less advanced, like the LCA. As for the navy, in order to dominate the IOR, we basically need to be Royal Navy + French navy. All this needs a smaller budget than $100B. We can easily get to that point within 5-7 years from about $50B today.
And we are already getting there. We are at 500k troops. Our high-end FAs are expected to come in via MRFA and AMCA, that's about 350-400 jets, leaving room for some 50-100 Su-57/NGAD as emergency procurement, and some 300 LCAs. The navy's getting SSNs along with 2 more carriers and about 100-150 sufficiently advanced fighters. And we plan to add 4 large LHDs, possibly a second marine corps class division to add to an existing one, which takes care of our island territories in the IOR.
What we are struggling with is a slow start due to a lower economic base and a smaller than usual defence budget. But that should get sorted over the next 5 years, so pretty much everything listed above should get contracted by then. Once implemented, we will become a great power after 2035.
Anything beyond that takes us outside the IOR and in contention for superpower status, we haven't planned that far ahead yet. Steps on way too many toes, that's way too big for our britches this decade. Any further naval expansion will have to be considered around the mid-2030s, but I don't expect the defence budget to even go beyond 1.5% unless the US becomes an enemy. To deal with China alone, we only need to match their Southern Fleet.
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