The approach the military is taking is of "
not having all their eggs in one basket." It stems from the lessons drawn in the 1965/1971 Wars, where victory was within Pakistan's grasp and was stifled by having majority of our military hardware comprising of American origin. 1965 in particular, where Kashmir was attainable as Pakistan had acheived Air Dominance which would've allowed Pakistan Army to pierce through and sever india's connecting artery to the Vale. However, American sanctions hit us hard, crippling Pakistan Air Force's ability to maintain the momentum and Air Dominance. Without Air Dominance, Pakistan Army could not and would not be able to cut off india's supply-lines at Aknaur choke-point.
Hence Pakistan Military adopted a two-pronged strategem. Whereby diversity in hardware was of primary importance and in the same breath, to work toward becoming self-reliant. The latter strategy gave birth to successful projects like
Al-Khalid Main Battle Tank,
JF-17 Thunder Combat Aircraft,
Agosta-90B Submarines and
F-22P Frigates. Whereas the former brought procurement diversification such as Swedish
Erieye Airborne Early Warning aircraft, British
Griffon-2000 Hovercraft, Germany/France
RAS-72 Seaeagle Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Italy
Spada-2000 Air Defense System and so on.
So as you can see, the figures speak for themselves.
China has been able to harness the technology, by learning and studying the tech. This has made China least vulnerable to Western Sanctions. The approach that China has, is a very simple one, achieve your objectives, by any means necessary. And China has proven that it is not subject to Western Sanctions. In fact, the current trade war between China and America is proof of this stance.
Turkey on the other hand, is not China, nor could it ever hope to emulate China, or Russia for that matter. Turkey has a great deal of dependence on the West, in terms of military hardware. As with any great power nation, dependency on "
Core Military Hardware" that are the backbone of any military, is nil. The Core Military Hardware is always designed, coded and manufactured by great power nations. Where Core Military Hardware constitutes of combat aircraft, surface combat ships, submarines, main battle tanks, military transport aircraft, aerial tanker aircraft, airborne early warning radar aircraft, auxillary surface ships, air defence network and so on. Turkey has none of that!
For starters, the most crucial aspect of any acquisition for Pakistan, is that it needs to be "
immune to Western sanctions." And the T-129, straight of the bat, has been hampered by American interference. Where the US Department of Defence has refused to issue export license to Turkey for the sale of 30 T-129 Atak helicopter gunships to Pakistan.
The LHTEC T800-4A turboshaft engine, is jointly designed and manufactured between the American Honeywell Aerospace Co and British Rolls Royce Co. This engine is the power plant that flies the Turkish T-129 Atak helicopter gunship. Without the engine, Turkey is now embarrassingly looking to find alternative power plant for its helo. Causing delays to the $1.5 billion deal that Pakistan signed on for 30 Atak helos.
https://ahvalnews.com/atak/turkeys-atak-helicopter-sale-pakistan-stalled-over-missing-engines-sol#1
Then as if things weren't bad enough for Turkey with the T-129 Atak engines, with US State Dept not issuing export license. There is the Turkish Military intervention in Syria. Dubbed the "
Olive Branch" Peace Operation, Turkey launched an illegal ingress into Syrian territory to fight and ward-off CIA-Sponsored Kurdish insurgents, the YPG. With heavy Turkish military hardware rolling into Norther Syria, the fight was on.
Not so long after Turkey's military invasion into Northern Syria, the Turkish military suffered the humiliating loss of it's brand spanking new, T-129 Atak helicopter gunship. Shot down, by none other than the insurgent group whom Turkey defines as terrorists. Needless to say, the news was looked at with scrutiny, world wide. And this wasn't good publicity for the Turkish military industrial complex, which has grown in size and reputation, off late.
http://www.aviationanalysis.net/2018/02/turkish-t129-attack-helicopter-shot-down-afrin.html
Comparitively, the Kamov Ka-50 Black Shark and the Mil Mi-28 Havoc. Both Mil and Kamov are vastly experience helicopter designers and manufacturers. Both Ka-52 Aligators and Mi-28 Havocs were in live combat operations in the liberation of Palmyra, Syria. Mi-28s also are on active duty combat against Nusra terrorists, in Hama, Syria. Both helicopter gunship combat experience, under operator, Russian Military.
https://sputniknews.com/military/201903231073488604-mi28nm-helicopter-syria-russia/
https://tass.com/defense/933891
Elsewhere, Iraqi Military deployed Mi-28s in combat against ISIS, in Ramadi. Using the deadly gunship with effective results.
So, there you have it, my analysis and conclusion on why Pakistan Military has made a mistake on procuring sanction prone, T-129 Atak from Turkey. Nothing against the Turks personally, but Turkey really needs to get itself out of the clutches of America.