If you were tasked with choosing aircrafts for an Air Force, what would you pick?

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MudaThumpa@reddit

I'd avoid American aircraft at this point due to it turning into an unreliable partner. Instead I'd be shopping with European and Korean manufacturers.

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

I agree, but at the bottom of the post i said that politics are not a factor in this hypothetical

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feather1919@reddit

Pretty similar to what my list would be:

JAS-39E (multi-role fighter) T-50 (advanced jet trainer) C-390 (tanker/cargo) CH-47 (cargo helicopter) UH-60 (multi-role helicopter) G 120TP (propeller trainer) Embraer E99 (AEW&C) P-8 (maritime patrol)

I would include a helicopter trainer as well, but i don’t know much about those.

This probably isn’t the best list, but i did the best i could with my knowledge on military aviation.

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

That’s honestly a better version than mine lol, I probably should’ve chosen this as my list. The one thing i personally would add (which i also forgot to add to my list) would be a UCAV, like the MQ-9 or the Bayraktar TB2.

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feather1919@reddit

I feel like the MQ-9 would be a better option out of the two, as someone else pointed out, you could basically have them loitering in the air at all times of the day if you are in a possible war scenario.

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Freshprinc7@reddit

Aircraft is already plural.

I would choose the A10 Warthog for making statements, the F-22 Raptor for dogfighting, the CH53k for heavy lift, the V-22 for high-speed troop transport, and the F-35 for reconnaissance/missles, and the C-5 for large loads of... whatever is needed.

The best of the best.

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49thDipper@reddit

Drones. Lots and lots of drones

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Old_Valuable_3196@reddit

I'd certainly learn how to pluralize the word first.

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Neither_Diamond2508@reddit

I’m not a grammar nazi normally but this one drives me crazy. Why do so many people say aircrafts, spacecrafts, etc. There is no “s” dangnammit.

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Chevypotamus@reddit

1 Ch53 Oops all out of budget

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ImaginaryAnimator416@reddit

C 390, Super Tucano and Gripen cause Im a proud Brazilian! 🤘🏻

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

Brazil definitely has one of my favorite Air Forces

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AceCombat9519@reddit

There is an extra option you will need the following C-5M A330mrtt F-35 Dassault Rafale KC-46 One of these in the list UH-60 CH-47 C-390 FA-50PH all are probe and drouge equipped. In my list there is a reason why I put in C-5M and A330mrtt because they use a GE CF6-80C2 engine. When fitted to the A330mrtt it becomes the A330-203mrtt.

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Fickle-Classroom-277@reddit

I will create an air force inventory entirely out of Embraer aircraft

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GreenSubstantial@reddit

Solid choices:

KC-390 transport/tanker

E-99 AWACS (erieye radar on a ERJ-145) & R-99 radar recon/ELINT

A-29 advanced trainer/COIN

Phenom 300 utility transport (can also be used as instrument calibration aircraft for VOR/NDBs/ILS gear)

Probable but there is a issue:

T-25 basic trainer - Obsolete and expensive to maintain, but otherwise good planes.

P-99 Maritime Patrol - Mexico is the sole user of this version, I do not believe it has ASW capabilities.

AMX fighter/attack - Obsolete, subsonic and hard to mantain (Brazil and Italia were the only users, Italy has already retired its aircraft and Brasil will do the same at the end of 2025).

Gripen E - Technically a SAAB aircraft, but Embraer is a major partner.

E-190/195 VIP transport - Good plane but limited range.

Niche application

Ipanema Ag aircraft - Great if your country has illicit drugs fields growing that needs some herbicides. Also good as a glider tug if your AF has gliders as part of pilot training syllabus.

Unsolved issues:

Helicopters: Embraer does not make any.

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Fickle-Classroom-277@reddit

Yeah helicopters are the issue. I suspect that the AMX could be at least somewhat upgraded to work in a modern air force, however, there's not much you can do about the absolute dog of an engine they decided to put in it, and parts availability is a major concern. (Source: I work on phenoms IRL, they can't even get parts together for their civilian birds, let alone some ancient light attack jet). I'd also use a legacy 600 for my VIP transport, cause it shares parts with the fleet of E-99s, P-99s and R-99s. Also alleviates the range issue with the obnoxiously huge ventral tank they put under the forward fuselage. But outside of straight up commissioning Embraer to build you a combat helicopter, you'd probably have to branch out for that

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richardelmore@reddit

Whose Airforce and what is my mission?

If I'm a small nation interested in self-defense then heavy lift aircraft (and possibly tankers) are a waste of money.

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

Main Mission is personal air defense and the Air Force is for an island nation about the size of Spain, and is in a more of a tropical climate. Let’s just say it’s more of a rich country as well.

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richardelmore@reddit

If I'm an island nation and not interested in fighting in other parts of the world then I probably am not too interested in dedicated CAS aircraft, I'd rather stop my adversary from landing in the first place so I would be investing in maritime patrol aircraft and something like the F-15 (assuming I'm friendly with the US and can buy them) that can carry long range anti-ship missiles as well as more traditional strike payloads and BVR air-to-air capability.

Also, if I'm a wealthy island nation I'm probably also investing in a Navy and would want to ensure that it and my Airforce complement each other.

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DukeBradford2@reddit

F-18 radar is more suitable for picking up low flying targets over water I read somewhere. But I would go with anything French made ie. Rafale, exocet etc. because they won’t ‘turn off’ your weapons if facing another ally like the US could easily do with all the required software updates to keep systems operational. Exocets used against British in the Falklands, used against the US Nay in Iraq Iran tanker wars. France will sell to almost anyone and is better than anything made by Russia or China.

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richardelmore@reddit

I don't think the US is alone in having this potential ability, the larger question is are there any indications that the US has ever takes steps to actually do this. Defense contractors would certainly push back on this since it would put them at a disadvantage compared foreign companies.

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BillyRaw1337@reddit

GRIPEN!!!!!

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literallyjuststarted@reddit

Attack aircraft: MQ-9

Fighter/Multirole aircraft; JAS 39 Gripen (F and E variants) Su-30 MK2

Transport aircraft/Support A400M Atlas P-8 Poseidon E-3 Sentry

Helicopters: UH-60 (MH and HH, and Seahawk variants including the DAP)

As a rich nation that’s interest in self-defense I feel a better doctrine will be to get them out before they even get close to my beaches. Which is why I picked the Su30 it’s a long range multirole aircraft capable of carrying anti ship missiles to support the MQ-9 that would be flying nearly non-stop around the coast ready to hit seafaring invasion forces. The Gripen supplements this role by being able to be an aircraft that can be launched from nearly everywhere given that I figured as a island nation there wouldn’t be as many air bases available to us and adaptability would be more of a bigger factor if it did come to the point were the nation was invaded having the ability to scramble fighters to smaller island or being able to hide them in makeshift bunkers and launch them off any roads would help in the defense of the nation.

Support aircraft like the Poseidon would supplement this doctrine nicely since they would also be the first line of attack for crushing the enemy before they made it to shore while being supported by E-3s giving all of these assets valued data in real time. The Atlas can serve as a refuel aircraft that can also aid in the movement of assets across the nation without breaking the bank in role specific planes while still being capable of landing in makeshift runways and move troops fast across.

Of course I would also invest heavily on a navy dedicated to defense of our waters relying heavily on cruisers, Destroyers and frigates, as a carrier or submarines would be too much of burden on the budget and too costly of a loss if it was sunk

The helicopters would be used more of a defense role moving resources across the nation as well as mobile attack platforms on invading forces once they were closer to the island or in the event that the nation was in fact invaded, being used in more hit and run attacks as I would want my fighters completely dedicated to contesting the air space at that point.

(perhaps a few attack subs operating on a doctrine that concentrated more attacking enemy ships and not a nuclear deterrent)

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professor__doom@reddit

I go full send on C-130 (and his little brother, the C-27 which uses the same engines and avionics). because I can get them cheap, they are proven and reliable, and they've already been adopted for everything.

Refueling. ELINT/EW, Transport. ASW and maritime patrol. Gunship. Special forces. Buy Erieye AWACS-in-a-box kits and bolt them on top of a plane or two. Could even be a roll-off bomber in a pinch if we use guided munitions.

Think of the adaptability, flexibility, and commonality. Massive logistics and training savings.

T-50 as a trainer, light fighter, light attack. These will actually be the bulk of combat aircraft - the main mission will probably be targeting smuggling or unknown boats/planes in our airspace. Do it cheap.

F-15EX for high-speed interception or interdiction missions, show up at the fight quickly with tons of weapons. Also enough capacity to function as a bomber.

F-35 as the tip of the spear. We only need a few.

For rotary wing, we go with old used blackhawks because they can accept refueling, which matters in an island environment, and lots of variants available. And hope they develop the AW609 into a military variant, then consolidate on that type (maybe paired with R-44 as our light helicopter option).

The savings elsewhere pay for the F-15EX and F-35s, plus enough training and flight-hours to maintain kickass proficiency. Use any remaining savings to build a navy.

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DutchMitchell@reddit

If I'm a small nation interested in self-defense then heavy lift aircraft (and possibly tankers) are a waste of money.

Do you feel like the Chinook falls under the "heavy lift aircraft" category?

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RobinOldsIsGod@reddit

What's my budget and what are all of my strategic goals and missions?

Am I part of a defense alliance, or am I just sitting here all by myself?

Do I face any threats from my surrounding neighbors? If so, then what are their capabilities?

Where am I located? Am I a tropical island sitting near the equator, am I landlocked the middle of a desert? Am I a primarily within a very mountainous region?

How big of an area am I called upon to defend? How vast are my borders?

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

Budget about the size of Germany’s Air Force budget, and main goal is personnel air defense with the ability to deploy to other nations.

The country is part of NATO and close allies with France, Spain, and the US, but you are not dependent on them.

You have no direct enemies.

You are located west of the Canary Islands and you are about the size of Spain, while having more of a tropical climate.

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MetalSIime@reddit

sounds like an insular country and part of NATO so..
F-35s
Consider F-47, FAXX, or GCAP in the future depending how it developing and export policies pans out
Golden Eagles for advance training and air policing, or M-346 (if the island is that far out, Golden Eagles for air policing might not be viable, so keep the M-346 just for advance training?)
PC-7MKX for basic training
C-2 for heavy transport
C-295 or C-27 for lighter transport
P-1 for ASW
GlobalEye or E-7 wedgetail for AEW
AW 149 for mid helicopter (maybe I could just get away with a light and heavier helo?)
AW 169 for a light
AW 101 for heavier and also ASW tasks if needed
Aksungur or Heron for surveillance drones, lots of options here

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IAteTwoPlanes@reddit

CH-47 (cargo helicopter) C-390/C-27 (light cargo) Hawk 200 (light strike) PC-21 (trainer) F-16, F-15, F-35 (interceptors/multirole fighters) E-2 Hawkeye (AWACS)

I probably don’t need AAR if my main mission is defence, likewise, I can use cargo transport as troop/people transport.

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Complete_Luck_3343@reddit

Fokker Mk.IIIs. Lets go back to the era of 'joust in the skies.'

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GeckIRE@reddit

I think the guy named A-29_Super_Tucano might be biased in his choice of light CAS 😅

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

I think you might be right 😅

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MacGibber@reddit

Where is the A-10?

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chalk_in_boots@reddit

3000 Rafale

I will not elaborate.

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pursuer_of_simurg@reddit

3000 Silver Rafales of Jean De Arc

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

No elaboration needed, you are a genius

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BillyRaw1337@reddit

WHERE'S THE GRIPEN?!

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njob3@reddit

Multi-role F-15E. And by that I mean I want it doing every role -- Cargo, VIP transport, etc etc.

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darthdodd@reddit

Passenger

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gsmitheidw1@reddit

Not seeing much in the way of long range or long endurance maritime patrol aircraft.

Irish Air Corps has chosen the Casa 295 and it's a solid choice if you want something that's slow enough to observe and do reconnaissance but quicker than a helicopter.

For longer faster missions maybe a P-8

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27803@reddit

Small country

Saab Gripen it can do all the missions no issues , easy to take care of on a day to day basis

C390 assuming I only get one type of transport it covers all the basis, I can slap refueling pods on it , assuming I don’t have to move heavy things too far away ie tanks it gives me the flexibility to get stuff around and VIP support if we need to go somewhere far away

UH60 seems a no brainer if we can assume parts availability

Some sort of intermediate trainer probably the Tucano, can use them for SAR and marine patrol

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Interesting-Mail-653@reddit

Gripen for multirole fighter FA50 for advanced trainer Tucano for Coin/strike C130 cargo Saab 340 awacs

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GreenSubstantial@reddit

I would replace the SAAB 340 with the newer Global Eye. It has a Challenger BizJet as airframe (that is much more sustainable in the future) and the Erieye ER radar with extended range.

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generalhonks@reddit

With the criteria you listed elsewhere, here's my picks (added some extra slots, I don't know if there's a hard limit that was set):

MH-60 Blackhawk (multi-mission helo)
A-400M Atlas (cargo, tactical airlift)
A330F (long range containerized cargo)
F-15E (CAS, air superiority,)
F/A-18 Super Hornet/EA-18G Growler (air defense, anti-shipping, electronic warfare, advanced trainer)
E-7 Wedgetail (AWACS)
MQ-9 Reaper (recon, light CAS)
A330 MRTT (tanker)

I don't foresee any need for force projection or offensive missions, so I won't need any large cargo aircraft like C-5s or C-17s, and I don't need to pay the extra money for advanced stealth fighters when the Strike Eagle and Super Hornet will do the job just fine. I tried to pick aircraft that were as flexible as possible and could be used in multiple roles. I also tried to prioritize finding and defeating an enemy air force as early as possible, so I picked a reliable AWACS aircraft and a solid long range tanker aircraft that can serve both flying-boom and probe-and-drogue equipped aircraft. I know that you said to ignore political affiliations, but I still decided to assume that my hypothetical nation was NATO-aligned.

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DukeBradford2@reddit

Rafale could do the work of both growler and super hornet in one plane, Bayaktar tb-2 is $5.5m compared to $33m reaper. a-400m is absolute shit, can’t lift as much as c-17 and unless you are transporting your army across the ocean unnecessarily.

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generalhonks@reddit

I don’t need a C-17 sized aircraft. I picked the A400M because it was a good middle ground between the C-130 and the C-17. I picked the Hornet/Growler because it can also be used as an advanced trainer, and because of it’s popularity, it has a surplus of parts and it’s cheaper to operate.

I picked the Reaper because its sensor systems are among the best in the world.

My lineup makes sense. Take a look at the actual Spanish Air Force, whose mission is almost word for word what the criteria for this post was. They utilize Hornets, Reapers, A400s, MRTTs, etc. If it can work for them, I see no reason it won’t work for me.

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Oedik@reddit

A400M isn't shit though. The C17 is pretty insane so comparison will always be hard but...

It was built to answer a French need with operations in overseas France and Africa in mind. Thus, the need for extra range. It uses turbo-propeller partly because jet engines tends to be harder to maintain in sandy condition for instance. A400M can land on improvised runway in the middle of the desert which is pretty cool if you ask me.

Same purpose, different use case

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Upper_Rent_176@reddit

I pick avro vulcans, tornados and C12s

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DukeBradford2@reddit

Save money for golden toilets by buying a couple dozen ground launched anti ship missiles and surface to air missile batteries. Army needs nothing more than some menacing looking mraps and a couple thousand heavy handed thugs to keep the free thinkers in line. Just be sure to keep your Generalizimo uniform ironed and pressed and fire off a couple rounds from your gold plated 1911 from your palace balcony every once in a while to show strength. For every dollar you spend on US congressional lobbying you save $10 on actually needing the equipment to fend off invaders.

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masteroffdesaster@reddit

depends. I'm from Germany, and with the prospect of massive funds I would like to get the best Air Force I could

so, what the Luftwaffe needs, is a tactical/strategic transport preferably with a secondary refueling ability, a heavy transport helicopter, a utility helicopter, maybe an aerial tanker, an air superiority fighter with secondary ground attack ability, a multirole aircraft maybe with secondary electronic warfare capabilities, maybe an AWACS and/or SIGINT aircraft, armed recce drones.

I also want the highest possible amount of airframes so I won't go for gold plated solutions

tactical/strategic transport: keep the A-400M

heavy transport helo: CH-53K, mainly because I don't like the CH-47 but I could see it doing a good job

utility helicopter: keep the NH-90 only because it would be too difficult to switch to a new airframe again

aerial tanker: A330MRTT but maybe pool it with NATO

air superiority fighter: keep the Eurofighter, but modernise the fleet and increase the order

multirole aircraft: could go with F-35 but I would actually prioritise the 6th gen aircraft and buy F/A-18E and EA-18G as interim solutions

AWACS: multiple options from E-767, E-2, G-550

armed recce drones: could keep Heron for a bit but I think there needs to be a more capable system

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Dependent_Ad_7658@reddit

Mi17 (cargo helicopter)
C17 (cargo heavy cargo)
C130 (argo and air tanker)
Su25 (CAS)
MI24 (attack helicopter)
Uh60 (utility helicopter)
JAS 39 gripen (multirole fighter)
T38 talon (trainer)
747 (VIP transport)

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pavehawkfavehawk@reddit

Well since this is a super broad question. I’d pick F-4s, F-111s, SR71s, and the Sb1 defiant cause I like to go fast

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Isord@reddit

This isn't really answerable without a lot more information. By far the most important factor in determining what you would buy is cost, both of the aircraft itself and in maintenance.

After that you have to determine what your mission actually is, which in itself will be influence by your budget but also of course your geopolitical situation and your goals.

Just looking at your own selection it doesn't really make much sense together. Something like the Globemaster only really makes sense if you need to project power around the world. To a degree this is also true for the Chinook and Blackhawk, but they are definitely much more flexible platforms than a heavy lift vehicle would be.

But on the other hand you've selected a CAS and fighter that are both really quite limited in their capability to project power.

So if you just really actually want to say "What are your favorite aircraft in each role?" then fair enough, but if you are building an air force you can't really do that coherently without knowing more info.

I think it's probably a lot more interesting of a question to think of this in restricted terms. How to build out your air force if you are a small country trying to make itself too prickly for a major power to attack. IO think your CAS, fighter, and transport choices make more sense there but no need to have the Globemaster for that task.

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A-29_Super_Tucano@reddit (OP)

Good point. I definitely didnt give as much information as i should have. I gave more details in a different comment if you want to see that; but i dont really know why i added the C-17, as the C-390 is more than enough.

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Top_Pay_5352@reddit

A C17 can carry a fully loaded c130 weight wise but also uses a lot of fuel..

The c390 and c17 will complement eachother seamlessly

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