I am shocked and no offense to see a positive rating to these comments . I would like to differ from your approach not on the basis of fanboy or some thing but based on Ideologies and thinking .
- In case of a war, sanctions will be done deal and with servicing also requiring a heavy french contingent, the whole fighter fleet will start fiddling fingers on tarmac in few days with not even having the ability to cannibalise some to keep others flying.
French are more reliable then US and historically French have never ditched us during the time of crisis be it Pressler amendments we were given ROSE package for vintage ,we were given Augusta Submarines which were state of the art that time .
- It would have practically resulted in freeze on all other projects especially JF-17, there wasn't even money for Rafale deal what to talk about a 200 plus extremely expensive avionics deal for JF-17.
Why you say some thing like that i failed to understand .If Rafale were selected JF17 would have been given special package to buddy with Rafale ,Yes i agree 200 plus would have been not possible but 100 Plus coupled with Rafale and same level of Instruments and weapon system ,i would have taken those any day. As Block 1,2 are still far behind those block 52+
If I remember correctly Rafale being offered at that time was with RBE PESA radar. Also I do not think PAF was ever interested in purchasing Rafale at all, it was only interested in a few subsystems but French were trying to push through Rafale. Which was a bad deal for many reasons.
- It would have cost a lot, not just cost of aircrafts but also servicing them required long term contracts resulting much more than 5-6 billion dollars.
- In case of a war, sanctions will be done deal and with servicing also requiring a heavy french contingent, the whole fighter fleet will start fiddling fingers on tarmac in few days with not even having the ability to cannibalise some to keep others flying.
- It would have practically resulted in freeze on all other projects especially JF-17, there wasn't even money for Rafale deal what to talk about a 200 plus extremely expensive avionics deal for JF-17.
- It would have practically stinted the whole fleet with grave consequences even upto present times. We would certainly had a couple of squadrons of Rafales which PDF guys can than debate to oblivion between pakistani and indian members. But the remaining fleet would have been left with an eye watering level of obsolescence. Old F16A fighters which at best can fire almost expired sparrows, mirages running out of life and F7s to zip around in air.
You have to understand the psyche here US wants to keep Pak in his camp ,Day we will get AESA for F17 US will offer F16 V ,For your answer F16 A/B at that time we would have retired but MLU was not a problem it would have been done just to check French connection .I am sorry I dont buy this argument .
- Any chances of acquiring AIM-120 out of window.
Any chance of azquiring HOBS from US is out of Question ,so whats the point AIM 120 is potent system but when we needed some thing in 1990`s and early 2000s we didnt have why we trusted US .That area we would have seen French/South African/ British /Chinese system .We only buy 500 AIM 120 whats the point if we dont have a decent platform to fire those.?
- Any chances of upgrading F-16s out of window.
It would have been more easier and frankly we would have been offered more used F16 with MLU kits being supplied
- Any chances of being able to integrate any other weapons especially Chinese origin with even any remaining and decaying JF-17 prototypes, out of window.
Why you say some thing like this ,we integrated A2A on Chinese F6 ,we integrated French ammunition as per our will
- About 30 odd Rafales to fly around in and do chest thumping in front of 240+ Su-30s with tiny and untested MICAs with a miserable 50+ km range.
240+ SU 30 availability rate less than 50% .36 Rafale coupled with Erieye Plus more induction would have possible in Pak territory think again .
What a bloody nightmare, thanks to Allah we were much saner and decided to take the better route.
Yes only time will tell about blunders we do
- Decided to upgrade F-16 fleet up to block 50+ standard and added a few and resulted in 70+ fighters with very decent AIM-120-C5 which were the best US were ready to part with, better than the competition.
We dont have AIM 120 D which is more potent and accurate but HOBS which is the future didnt have those .70 F16 with probably kill switches / Sanction pron /no guarantee for future upgrades ? WOW Thanks God for testing our patience as well as keep us safe with the type of planning ,All F16 operators are retiring and we are inducting ? Smart really
- Resulted in 60+ JF-17s and still counting which are no slouches either in radar range or in BVR combat or in WVR combat. With lot of freedom to integrate what you can get you hand on and chances of getting even better with planned future upgrades.
These are speculations and nothing more . Defence cant be planned on F16 or sanction pron assets .Whats the point . The added advantages were Not to opted for this in 2004
1.JF17 100+ /Rafale 36+ + MIrages 50+ /F7 50+ ,F16 MLU 50+
2. Because of this planning we are nearing to 190-200 planes end life and we dont have alternate
3. We handed over best friend France to India ,So Congrats we didn't go for Rafale but we will be facing them in coming time with the same F16s and F17 .
4. F16 which we have so much hype in time of war will prove itself and this decision.
5. F17 future has no issue weather we stayed with US or France ,with France all avionics would have been arrived much quickly .
6. Most importantly other than China i am repeating myself France would have been out ticket to many arenas world wide .
For concluding my remarks i'm putting an Example .Chinese AWACS and ERIEYE the best decision ever taken by Mushy why in time of one being sanctioned we already have options .Even though Swedes dont want to do any business but still there is news of system being sold possibly to PAk .