Discuss the UAE's purchase of F-18s, including their sale price and the quality of American air-to-air missiles when compared to those developed by Russia and China.
The Americans did something really stupid with the Emirates. They squeezed them so hard to cough up a massive sale price that any one else even contemplating the F-18 will have a lot of second thoughts. In Canadian dollars that UAE deal is worth nearly half a trillion dollars, and that is BEFORE even one missile is fired. The American made air to air are years behind what the Russians and Chinese have. The only missile that is worth anything right now against the huge stand off range that the Russians have is the British Meteor, which the Saab Gripen was selected to carry first.