PAF's priority remains the same, Minimum credible defence against India. This is no different than introduction of Mirage 2000 in the late 80's with Mig29 as a frontline fighter. It is similar with Rafale coming into the equation and it's relevance is even lower because MKI poses a similar operational challenge.
From PAF's perspective and healthy mix of JF17's and F16's combined would be more than enough to mitigate most of air defence challenges with Blk52 and future AESA upgrades to F16 and the JF17 can be more than enough to meet challenges posed by newer IAF platforms
Yes and no. Given the requirements and the operational mandate of the PAF, Jf17 with a F16 combination with upgrades and continuous improvements can mitigate the requirements. It will be a uphill task if the operational mandate of PAF changes from denial of air superiorty to gain partial air superiority in pockets of Indian airspace.
There are two possible options J31 as popular choice of the forum and the j20 which I think would be game changer.
J31 is the optimal addition if the PAF mandate of denying air superiority to India remains the same.
If the mandate of the PAF changes, which is the aspirations of most Pakistanis where PAF would want to take the fight away from it's airspace into the Indian airspace, then J31 doesn't fit the bill, let me propose the J20 platform would be a more potent albeit slightly more expensive system or a CFT variant of the J31 with extended range.
Engine: The J31's use the same Klimov RD 93 engines as of now on the test bed which may or may not be replaced by a chinese variant. Compare the J31 ranges with the Mig 35/ Mig29 OVT and Mig 29 K which uses the most recent variant of the RD33 series - RD33 MK, similar 17.5 Ton loaded/Gross weight, the ferry range of the Mig 35 is 3100Km with 3 Ext Drop tanks, whereas the J31 is being advertised as a 4000 Km Ferry range.Given that both aircrafts are of similar empty weight around 11-11.5 tons and have a 17.5 ton loaded weight, there is a good chance that both carry similar internal fuel, thus the combat range of the J31 in stealth configuration might not be1200 Km as advertised, rather around 500-600 Kms similar to that of a F16. That would put the idea of deep strike into a pickle.
Airframe: AVIC says that a lot of additive mfg was used in the test bed, and hence could not be dis-assembled during the transportation for testing. As the production models are out to 2019, if any of the RP techniques make it into the production model it will be a nightmare of maintenance and fitment. In addition the airframe was reported to bleed a lot of energy in it's first appearance, hopefully by the production variant those issues might be resolved.
Air defence needs to be pro-active rather than reactive, if Pakistan decides to implement A/D regimes based on developments in the neighborhood, it will forever play catch up rather than be prepared for an contingencies. From the Air defence perspective, it needs a strategic roadmap against not just against india but even worst case scenarios like US too. It needs to understand threat potential and coverages it needs in each sector and needs to develop a comprehensive procurement and development mix based on the resources available to it over the next decade with short and long term gap analysis.
Rather work on the J31 (Pak specific or J20) now, instead of waiting for 10 years.
Have a comprehensive strategic plan, which you already do, and keep steadfast on it.
Yes it absolutely is and in my opinion JF 17 is a freakin magic bullet in that perspective,
Looking at the operating (cap+op) budget of PAF, and the size of the defence budget of Pakistan, what PAF has achieved with the JF17 program is nothing short of brilliant.
One single multirole system to replace 3 platforms (5 variants) Nachang A-5, Mirage III/V, and F7 and F7PG.... If anything the men behind the project should be hailed as National Heroes of Pakistan. At 1/5th of the price, they have successfully done what a 100 million dollar aircraft is struggling to do for the US....
Additionally , JF17 doesn't just replace the aging fleet of dedicated legacy jets, but creates a surprise element within a F16 strike package. One thing we often tend to forget is India-Pakistan border is Huge, looking at the Map we sometimes make the folly of loosing the perspective. A Lo-Lo strike package of JF17 can penetrate Indian defenses along hi-lo F16/Jf17 mix, all IAF forward bases are at risk, now JF 17 much like the F16 lets you use the same platform withn a strike package to be armed with a Air Sup config/ a strike config/ and combination config. That is a game changer, much like what the F16 brought to the table.
Next is ability to tweak open arch com bus and make it read Link 16 tags, JF17 gives pakistan open architecture mission computers, which can be immensly helpful to integrate both Western/Russian/indigenous munitions. You can do whatever you want to do with the systems and know that your on engineers can fix it without any issues. The system provides to capability to serve as test bed for engineering projects, improvement projects, having control over the Bill of material structure, you can change, optimize, re-engineer and validate different materials, different actuators/servos/valves/MFD's/control systems/mission comps/cooling systems/radar/flirs/ EW suite/maws/rwr's, on the component level you can qualify different suppliers to make the aircraft more reliable, cheaper, have lesser down time/ easier maintenance, change local suppliers/ increase local content and more...Which other system in the history of Pakistan has provided such options to Pakistan?
No they are not, and PAF brass has already selected J17 as a replacement for the mirage 3/5, There is no whatsoever reason to second guess one of the most potent airforce's in the world.
Depends, first of - is there a pressing need for french sub-systems, are Chinese russian, italian , american lacking capabilities? Right tool for the right job, irrespective of branding.
Electronic low observability,
Low level penetration,
Low operational cost,
AESA capable radar,
Multi-warhead BVRAAM
High speed Maneuverability,
Well lasting longer in Air or otherwise is always a plus.
No they aren't, but surely they will help in a conflict.
@Oscar @Manticore @PARIKRAMA @anant_s @MastanKhan
.. 
lol
