It took 2 Mirages ( 1 with SOW and 1 to target ), additional JF17s and F16s to protect them to deliver just 1 SOW.......just 1.... a Rafale can deliver 2 SOW ( SCALPS ) and is capable of defending itself on the way in and out ...
When they visited IOK - the flaws in the Mirages were also exposed - it is incapable of targetting itself or defending itself and in a high intensity war when using SOWs - the flaws of the Mirage were also exposed alongside its success..
It is time to retire these relics and move onto J17s/J10Cs who have better capabilities to deliver SOW and to be able to defend themselves while doing it..
It took 4* mirages actually and were protected by F-16s.
Now in modern combat every strike package is supported by escort/sweep/OCA-A/OCA-G/SEAD/DEAD etc, irrespective of the aircraft. Yes you could argue that Mirages needed extra number of aircraft to defend them even JF-17s carrying ReK were escorted by other JF-17s. Indian M2Ks were also escorted by Su-30s and same applies for Rafaels. So you cannot declare Mirages to be useless on basis of this argument.
You think PAF wasn't aware of flaws of the Mirage? You think they never practiced same mission before? Of course they did, the issue is PAF doesn't have any suitable replacement for Mirage yet and that's why we are using them but mind it they did their job in the hour of need.
There's only one case (in modern history) of a strike aircraft (F-18) going all offensive and targeting threat aircraft successfully otherwise strike aircrafts always stick to their primary role and are defended by support aircraft.So once again, be it J-10/JF-17/F-16 or Rafael .. none will solely perform all the roles in a mission.
What if you are able to carry out SEAD successfully(even in some sectors), then won't having more mirages as bomb trucks be favourable so as to not decrease the availability of the frontline fighters
This statement is very vague. You didn't mention who will be performing SEAD. If Mirages, then I don't see them performing this role until last resort. We are yet to see any SEAD action from PAF but I expect JF-17s and MAYBE J-10s to perform this role (even though they have been acquired for different purpose).
If you meant any other aircraft other than Mirage, then what's Mirage got to do with the whole scenario? Except for it will be flying in the same package. Even if JF-17s are performing strike then they too will be needing SEAD aircraft as support. So availability of frontline fighters will remain same irrespective of which platform is performing the strike.
