Sir, you obviously will know about the F-20 Tigershark (an advanced F-5) being offered to Pakistan with licence production before F-16 was cleared for sale. Of course PAF pushed for the F-16. My questions are:
- Assuming no sanctions, would the F-20 have been a good choice for Pakistan rather than F-16? (I think F-16 was originally bought to take out India's nuclear facilities, so no because F-20 would not have enough range.)
- Would F-20 have been a good choice in addition to F-16? I think yes because of PAF's efforts to develop F-7 Sabre II (Project Sabre II) and JF-17, which are both similar in many ways to F-20)
Also, can you tell us more about Project Sabre II or show me any good sources you have found about it? From what I have found so far (very little), I know it was an F-7 with side-intakes, proper nose radome for F-20 Tigershark radar, extra hardpoint under each wing for a AIM-9L, new canopy design similar to F-20. Project was cancelled because the upgrade was expensive and F-7P was found to be good enough to serve alongside the F-16, plus America's sanctions on China after 1989 Tienanmen Square incident made the American contractors for the project pull out.
Sorry for long post, I understand if you do not have time to reply!