IMHO, we are relying too much on JF-17 Block III, lets be realistic, it will be no match against Rafales. JF-17 is a liteweight aircraft, Rafales is the medium weight. Rafales has more hard points and long range BVR missiles. I think PAF missed the trick, They should have gone for the J-10C for the stop gap. I even doubt J-10C are at par with Rafales.
we all know that F-16 Block 70/72 is at par with Rafale, but we dont have any of those. I am not talking about men behind machine, i am talking about machine vs machine. sure 36 numbers arent that big, but those 36 units can turn the table in air combat. dont forget that S-400 is also coming. we have no answer for it. quoting 27th Feb incident all the time, wont save us from future short comings. we should never underestimate our adversary. thats what indians do. we shouldnt do it, instead find the solution for it . our AZM project is still on paper. it will take some good 15+ years to complete. our current F-16 fleets going to retire in 10 to 12 years. so wheres the stop gap ? its a serious issue. i am sure PAF knows about it. but we didnt see anything solid coming out from PAF. i am not going into financial issues becoz, when we go for battle or war, we should be prepared for it, no matter whats the cost. JF-17 and Rafales are like Apples and Oranges. our only answer and option is F-16 Block 70/72.
senior members on PDF can share some thoughts on this topic.