I know about your views on AESA tech, but I requested opinion on western AESA and EJ200 comparison with Chinese counter part? Which way Pakistan should take for getting 5th gen plane Turkish or Chinese or Domestic project with help from China, Turkey, South Africa, Ukraine / Russia??
The issue/question here is about experience, as in who have been doing what for how long.
The Chinese members here have been touting the argument that whatever technology that China have today came from their own efforts. That is not true.
https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh100/kangxi/en/en_01.html
Living at opposite ends of the world, the two monarchs were indirectly connected by an intangible bridge formed by the French Jesuits. Through the introduction of these missionaries, Louis XIV came to know about Kangxi, and there was a flourishing of interest in and emulation of Chinese culture and arts at all levels of French society. Under the guidance of the Jesuit missionaries, on the other hand, Emperor Kangxi learned of Western science, arts, and culture, and was known for their promotion. His patronage led to the emergence of many a devoted student of Western studies among the officials and subjects of the Qing.
Instead of religious missionaries, just like Japan and South Korea have done in the recent past, China hired mercenary scientists and engineers. The pay is tax free since it is overseas and the in-country benefits are generous. This is in conjunction with sending one's own people overseas to learn and return to improve one's country. There is nothing wrong with this plan. Imperial Japan did it in a single generation and became a global power strong enough to start a world war.
The problem now is that this is about the defense of one's country. Buying an aircraft and you will have an instant weapon. For countries that must import their defense, there are no other options. Politically speaking, you cannot buy from an enemy, for obvious reasons. Either you buy or have your country relatively defenseless for decades as you struggles in development.
Buying a jet fighter is not like buying a microwave oven. For starter, the microwave oven is a mass consumer product with many sources vying for your money, while with the jet fighter, you are limited in sources and each source knows that you are quite a captive audience. With the microwave oven, it is either 'me' or the 'other guys', plural. With the jet fighter, and its associated components, it is either 'me' or 'him'. You pretty much have no one else in the game.
With the microwave oven, being a mass consumer product with many sources, you can have a relatively independent third party assessment of competing sources. In the US, we have the trusted and popular Consumer Reports magazine. With the jet fighter, or the submarine, or the tank, there are no defense version of Consumer Reports. You have history, as in wars, to give you at best an idea of how a country's military export could -- not would -- perform under the worst conditions.
None of us have access to Chinese hardware to make our own assessments. The best I can do is give my own (biased) opinions that could legitimately be criticized as politically motivated. Let us be clear about that admittance from me. In the same vein, we hope that our Chinese members of this forum are willing to be equally candid about their arguments in favor of their country.
Here is the real world deal...
Technology produces new combat tactics and alters the current ones. Once those new and edited combat tactics became indelible, war doctrines followed. By this time, you are past the point of no return. Take the machine gun, for example. Every ground army in the world have combat tactics that incorporated the machine gun, whether their troops can get their hands on the machine guns or not.
For the Western air forces, it is either the AESA radar or go home. Our experience with radar in general, in peace and war, is at least a magnitude greater than what China have. War history overrides any criticism about biases and political motivations in advertising. Same for the jet engine.
The joke in the military is that the weapon that you are using was built by the lowest bidder, implying that the lower the cost, the lower the efficacy and quality of that weapon. We can cite sales brochures specs all day and night long. But in the end, the best you can do is hope that the Pakistani government will perform due diligence and assess each seller's products fairly and critically. Pakistan's adversary is not US, but India right across the border. The hostility between the two of you have been simmering for decades.
You buy the technology and adjust your combat tactics accordingly, then find out that the product does not perform to expectations. This is not the kitchen where you can start all over with different tools and ingredients. This is war. Either the product performs or your country will pay the ultimate price for someone else's failure to live up to his sales brochures.
