GriffinsRule
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2015
- Messages
- 3,394
- Reaction score
- 7
- Country
- Location
F-16s issue is that while its great for strike role, but PAF F-16 dont have capability for Maritime strike. If the US is willing to give them that capability then by all means. But you still dont have an aircraft capable of nuclear strike. Same goes for M2K.
Rafale and Typhoon would be great, but PAF cant really afford new builds and used Rafales have been upgraded to F3 (soon to be F4). The used Typhoons available for sale are Tranch 1 which have no a2g capabilities or maritime strike capabilities.
Su-30/34/35 would be perfect but agaim they are not, as far as we know, available to Pakistan. If they are, then by all means the Su-34 or Su-35 would be the very best PAF could ask for.
The issue is that there are no good strike options available to PAF amd the JH-7A is actually a good low cost option until PAF can replace it. The very definition of a stop gap is a low cost adequate option capable of fulfilling your needs for a short time.
First, Pakistan should push for harpoon capability for its F-16s, given that we already have that available for our P-3C Orions. So its not out of the realm of possibility. Secondly, M2K offers both cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles (which btw we can also using JF-17). Having refuelers negates the range advantage more or less anyways. Besides, for targets really out in the gulf or indian ocean, PN will be hard pressed already to find targets and then to deploy fighters to attack them anyways (but thats another matter). And since we are only talking here about a squadron at most, for maritime roles, we can afford both the Rafale and the Typhoon (upgrading with better A2G than existing is not a hurdle). I am actually not in favor of the Su but whatever the PAF chooses amongst these 3 would more than suffice.
Now for the question of nuclear strike, if we are using Mirages now, JF-17 will then be the primary carrier and it can perform the role better if not just as well as the Mirage 3/5s. And in the next 10-15 years, we will have the next gen aircraft from project AZM to take over that role (Mirages are not going anywhere before then anyways).
As for JH-7 being a stop gap and low cost option, both are fallacies. PAF can't afford to buy stop gap, esp for a crap antiquated fighter, as the operational costs, training, infrastructure etc all have to be accounted for. So no thank you.