October 28, 2007:
Aircraft,
especially combat aircraft, may look the same over their 20-30 year service
life, but their capabilities often increase enormously, and at great expense,
over that period. Sometimes, older aircraft are updated, to match the latest
models. This is what the Swedish Air Force is doing to 31 of their JAS 39
fighters, at a cost of $23 million per aircraft. This fighter only entered
service eleven years ago. Of the 260 JAS 39s in service or on order, 120 are
the A (or two seat trainer B) model. The JAS 39C was introduced in 2002, and
contained numerous improvements. The 14 ton JAS 39 is roughly comparable to
late model F-16s.