Falcon Units honing their skills

[Windjammer]

With more squadrons converting to the JF-17s and adopting air defense duties, it's freeing some F-16 units to concentrate on other roles. Here student pilots kicking in the A/B to hone their air-to-ground skills with their ever sharp Hawk-eyed instructor sitting as GIBS in B model for assessments.

 

[Windjammer]

@Knuckles @Oscar @Taimoor Khan @Stealth @Bilal Khan 777 @Jammer @MastanKhan

 

[scionofPakwattan]

With more squadrons converting to the JF-17s and adopting air defense duties, it's freeing some F-16 units to concentrate on other roles. Here student pilots kicking in the A/B to hone their air-to-ground skills with their ever sharp Hawk-eyed instructor sitting as GIBS in B model for assessments.

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Thats great! We can always use F16s in AD role should the need be but we definitely need to work on strategic strike capability to hinder enemy air ops and to neutralize enemy radars.

 

[CriticalThought]

So.... PAF's strategy is changing towards F-16s as ground strike? Probably honed during Zarb-e-Azb? It's a pity it can't carry Ra'ad. There could be multiple hidden variables at play here:

1. Unreliable supply of AMRAAMs and AIM-9s.
2. Unavailability of AIM-9x.
3. Maintenance costs. Air-to-air combat might be more strenuous on the aircraft.

Whatever the reasons, it is a very good strategy to slowly bring in the future frontline jet to the forefront and let the F-16s take a back seat.

 

[Windjammer]

So.... PAF's strategy is changing towards F-16s as ground strike? Probably honed during Zarb-e-Azb? It's a pity it can't carry Ra'ad. There could be multiple hidden variables at play here:

1. Unreliable supply of AMRAAMs and AIM-9s.
2. Unavailability of AIM-9x.
3. Maintenance costs. Air-to-air combat might be more strenuous on the aircraft.

Whatever the reasons, it is a very good strategy to slowly bring in the future frontline jet to the forefront and let the F-16s take a back seat.

Or maybe simply due to it's phenomenal weapon load ability.

 

[Raider 21]

With more squadrons converting to the JF-17s and adopting air defense duties, it's freeing some F-16 units to concentrate on other roles. Here student pilots kicking in the A/B to hone their air-to-ground skills with their ever sharp Hawk-eyed instructor sitting as GIBS in B model for assessments.

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Chances are those are newly-converted Viper drivers getting their time to get up to operational status. All those jets are No.9 squadron jets.

 

[Windjammer]

Chances are those are newly-converted Viper drivers getting their time to get up to operational status. All those jets are No.9 squadron jets.

Some info i was able to obtain.

There's been no let down in the sortie generation rate or focus on Falcon boys aerial dogfighting skills. Both air-to-air and air-to-ground are going on full-throttle. Aim is to make each and every Falcon Driver multi-role so should the need arise the drivers can switch roles like the click of a button!
However, the JF has now freed up the northern hemisphere for AD duties off the Falcon drivers thus easing off the pressure on the Falcon drivers and dependency on the Falcon. Central Punjab and Southern Sindh is the Falcons domain. By 2020 the JF will share the workload 50/50 in those two hemispheres too meaning both JF and Falcon will be on ADA duties and can scramble together or in pairs

 

[CriticalThought]

Some info i was able to obtain.

There's been no let down in the sortie generation rate or focus on Falcon boys aerial dogfighting skills. Both air-to-air and air-to-ground are going on full-throttle. Aim is to make each and every Falcon Driver multi-role so should the need arise the drivers can switch roles like the click of a button!
However, the JF has now freed up the northern hemisphere for AD duties off the Falcon drivers thus easing off the pressure on the Falcon drivers and dependency on the Falcon. Central Punjab and Southern Sindh is the Falcons domain. By 2020 the JF will share the workload 50/50 in those two hemispheres too meaning both JF and Falcon will be on ADA duties and can scramble together or in pairs

Isn't 2020 the time range when Block III will get inducted as well?

 

[The Accountant]

Some info i was able to obtain.

There's been no let down in the sortie generation rate or focus on Falcon boys aerial dogfighting skills. Both air-to-air and air-to-ground are going on full-throttle. Aim is to make each and every Falcon Driver multi-role so should the need arise the drivers can switch roles like the click of a button!
However, the JF has now freed up the northern hemisphere for AD duties off the Falcon drivers thus easing off the pressure on the Falcon drivers and dependency on the Falcon. Central Punjab and Southern Sindh is the Falcons domain. By 2020 the JF will share the workload 50/50 in those two hemispheres too meaning both JF and Falcon will be on ADA duties and can scramble together or in pairs

I think another aspect is F16s range and capability to penetrate enemy air defense due to more powerful EW suite and the speed with which it can turn back after a strike ...

However, with MAR-1 in inventory, I think JF17 also shares the load of SEAD and strike missions ... For that role I think ideal formation would be a combination of thunder and falcons banking on capabilities of each other ...

Furthermore, it is interesting that with Raad equipped Mirages now we have three fighters which can perform SEAD missions and with stand-off munitions, we can take out air defenses of enemy close to our border which gives us much needed flexibility ...