I thought so too. We have been hearing of this order for at least 1 year if not more. So perhaps the order has been finalized. I still dont understand what is happening on the attack helicopter front and what PAA is doing.
A
They’re doing what they can. The way I see it, T-129B deal is basically dead, but it depends on how long PA thinks they can wait. The plan was to have light, medium and heavy gunships altogether.
Light is covered by Fennecs, T-129B could have been the medium, AH-1Z while it is a medium helicopter due to its capabilities it’s already bridging the gap between Heavy and medium.
Right now I think the military will either buy Z-10ME for medium and then for heavy they have either T-929 or a Chinese heavy gunship as options. If they buy Z10ME the Chinese heavy becomes more appealing. If they think they can wait and still end up getting T-129B sometime down the line, the Turkish heavy becomes more appealing.
While imo Z-10ME is better than T-129B, PA wants the Turkish option still, maybe because they think they can do more with it or because they don’t want to rely solely on China, it may be due to easier credit lines as well. Many factors come in to play, not just the performance of the aircraft. Regardless, PA will get something sooner or later because their roadmap of modernizing all cores obviously has aviation in it as well, what they get depends on how long they can realistically wait and keep AH1Fs flying (a few of those have been retired already).
«The Chinese side will import 36 Ka-52K Katran or Ka-52M heavy-armed helicopters from Russia for $20 million each».
Only $20 million per helicopter. This is such a good deal. The KA-52 is among the best Attack Helicopters in the world. Arguably among the top 3 best in the world. We signed a deal for 30 T129 ATAK for $1.5 billion. That’s $50 million for each helicopter. Dont Get me wrong. The T129 ATAK is a good Attack Helicopter dont get me wrong, but $50 million for each helicopter.... Not worth it. Let alone the fact that we are not receiving them due to the Engine being American origin
Pakistan could have bought 75 KA-52 Attack Helicopters for just $1.5 billion.
I think you’re severely overestimating the KA-52 as well as misunderstanding it’s role. The KA-52 is a good helicopter surely, but it’s
not a support gunship. It
cannot do the same roles as T-129B, AH-1Z, Z-10ME etc.
Its a scout helicopter meant for quick strikes (hence its usage for ship-borne roles). It’s not well suited to hovering in one place for extended periods of time providing cover to troops on the ground, which is what we need. Hence we have no use for the KA-52, it doesn’t perform the role we need a helicopter to perform.
The Russian helicopter for this role is the Mi-28, which FYI, we did test, and imo it could still be a realistic contender for PAs heavy gunship role, however how logistics would work with us having a medium gunship from another country, that’s up to PA to decide Wether it’s worth it. Given how some of our other potential deals with Russia went, KA-52 might have seen the same fate as T-129B anyways. And I have a feeling our second order of Mi35M might have as well.
