Pakistan in talks with US to procure latest F-16 jets: Air chief

[Falcon26]

A PAF that operates JF-17s, ~120 F-16s & couple squadrons of F-35 will be unstoppable & ideal. Despite the many urges to procure SU-35, in my own personal view, there is no wisdom in procuring a fighter jet that your primary enemy has operated for decades & knows it's many weaknesses & strengths. The Indian Air Force rejected the F-16s for the same reason PAF should reject the SU-series & it's many derivates.

Pakistan is a Major Non-NATO ally. There's no reason why PAF shouldn't operate the F-35s. The political & financial considerations will not matter much once the PAF decides to go for it. I don't buy the cynical arguments presented by mostly Indian posters that PAF can't afford this or that. The Pakistani Nuclear program is an example of Pakistan pursuing assets that on the surface seems costly & not financially possible. If GHQ sees the strategic merits in more F-16s/F-35, it will be procured. Congress will resist but will ultimately be circumvented.

Pakistan is a crucially important country for the West in the current regional environment for the them to ignore. The United States' relationship with Pakistan has always been give & take arrangement. The West has to give something to Pakistan to justify Pakistan's cooperation.

 

[rockstar08]

Biggest blunder PAF making it shows how un professional they are

Countries like indonesia kiwait oman all of them rejected F 16 and went for twin engine jet hence they have no enemies

Its not a blunder buddy ..
F-16 is still a potent fighter , and able to match any plane in our Enemy's inventory ..
18-36 block 52 F-16s by 2020 , will be a good decision while adding the JF-17 in numbers ..
adding 36 F-16 blk 52, will rise the numbers to 110+/- , alone with 250 Jf-17's and you will have enough money to invest in J-31 program .. and transform into a new fighter according to the requirements of PAF ..

 

[Signalian]

Get the Venezuelan ones also , 21 with 3 replacements MLU them in Turkey and replace the mirages for strike role

 

[Paksanity]

A PAF that operates JF-17s, ~120 F-16s & couple squadrons of F-35 will be unstoppable & ideal. Despite the many urges to procure SU-35, in my own personal view, there is no wisdom in procuring a fighter jet that your primary enemy has operated for decades & knows it's many weaknesses & strengths. The Indian Air Force rejected the F-16s for the same reason PAF should reject the SU-series & it's many derivates.

Pakistan is a Major Non-NATO ally. There's no reason why PAF shouldn't operate the F-35s. The political & financial considerations will not matter much once the PAF decides to go for it. I don't buy the cynical arguments presented by mostly Indian posters that PAF can't afford this or that. The Pakistani Nuclear program is an example of Pakistan pursuing assets that on the surface seems costly & not financially possible. If GHQ sees the strategic merits in more F-16s/F-35, it will be procured. Congress will resist but will ultimately be circumvented.

Pakistan is a crucially important country for the West in the current regional environment for the them to ignore. The United States' relationship with Pakistan has always been give & take arrangement. The West has to give something to Pakistan to justify Pakistan's cooperation.

Keeping silly fanboyism aside, here is why Su-35 keeps coming up. Please have a look at this map. This is recently UN approved EEZ limits of Pakistan (extending 350 NM into Arabian Sea)

As you can see outer limit is 350 NM and Pakistan needs to maintain its presence in its EEZ. This is to be done in the face of Indian navy which is very strong and will try to choke this area which houses critical shipping lanes. Now Pakistan navy can sail to this area but they will require air cover. Which aircraft has such long range and endurance? F-16 while a formidable in its own right lacks such range. F-35 is even more limited on range though highly advanced. That's where Su-35 came into the picture with its huge range and payload. Personally I don't think such thoughts will materialise but if Pakistan runs out of options it might even consider it, say in return for something to Russia. For example we could offer Russia access to one of the port in Gulf/ Indian Ocean in return for advanced weaponry. If we couldn't get it from West what other options do we have? We have to protect our EEZ one way or the other.

I would like US aircraft as they are advanced, reliable and proven. F-15 fits the bill in place of Su-35. F-18 does too though it has shorter range compared to F-15. However F-35 will fit in nicely for our continental requirements if and when it is made available. PAF Chief made it amply clear that PAF intends to buy fifth Gen fighter in next five years or so. Chinese are pushing J-31 while Turkish TFX could become a real option too. I would like to see F-35 in the list of options too.

 

[Khafee]

Keeping silly fanboyism aside, here is why Su-35 keeps coming up. Please have a look at this map. This is recently UN approved EEZ limits of Pakistan (extending 350 NM into Arabian Sea)

View attachment 283535

As you can see outer limit is 350 NM and Pakistan needs to maintain its presence in its EEZ. This is to be done in the face of Indian navy which is very strong and will try to choke this area which houses critical shipping lanes. Now Pakistan navy can sail to this area but they will require air cover. Which aircraft has such long range and endurance? F-16 while a formidable in its own right lacks such range. F-35 is even more limited on range though highly advanced. That's where Su-35 came into the picture with its huge range and payload. Personally I don't think such thoughts will materialise but if Pakistan runs out of options it might even consider it, say in return for something to Russia. For example we could offer Russia access to one of the port in Gulf/ Indian Ocean in return for advanced weaponry. If we couldn't get it from West what other options do we have? We have to protect our EEZ one way or the other.

I would like US aircraft as they are advanced, reliable and proven. F-15 fits the bill in place of Su-35. F-18 does too though it has shorter range compared to F-15. However F-35 will fit in nicely for our continental requirements if and when it is made available. PAF Chief made it amply clear that PAF intends to buy fifth Gen fighter in next five years or so. Chinese are pushing J-31 while Turkish TFX could become a real option too. I would like to see F-35 in the list of options too.

Time to open a new thread, "What twin engine aircraft suits PAF " excluding the F15, F18 & the SU series.

@MastanKhan and others

 

[Blue Marlin]

Time to open a new thread, "What twin engine aircraft suits PAF " excluding the F15, F18 & the SU series.

@MastanKhan and others

that leaves the eft which is too expensive the rafale which is not gonna happen. that leaves china and the j31 and thats not even ready for another 5 years minimum.

 

[Khafee]

that leaves the eft which is too expensive the rafale which is not gonna happen. that leaves china and the j31 and thats not even ready for another 5 years minimum.

Thats it? Are you sure?

 

[Blue Marlin]

well lets put a bit of logic here. 8 jets offered to pakistan during the pakistans pm visit to the usa is not enough to even make a new squadron. so what the acm must be talking about is an idditional order inline with the original 8 jets. so basically it's 8 plus more. most likely the "more advanced" variant will be of similar spec to that of the f16-v which what lockheed martin is offering to indoneasia.

 

[Signalian]

Keeping silly fanboyism aside, here is why Su-35 keeps coming up. Please have a look at this map. This is recently UN approved EEZ limits of Pakistan (extending 350 NM into Arabian Sea)

View attachment 283535

As you can see outer limit is 350 NM and Pakistan needs to maintain its presence in its EEZ. This is to be done in the face of Indian navy which is very strong and will try to choke this area which houses critical shipping lanes. Now Pakistan navy can sail to this area but they will require air cover. Which aircraft has such long range and endurance? F-16 while a formidable in its own right lacks such range. F-35 is even more limited on range though highly advanced. That's where Su-35 came into the picture with its huge range and payload. Personally I don't think such thoughts will materialise but if Pakistan runs out of options it might even consider it, say in return for something to Russia. For example we could offer Russia access to one of the port in Gulf/ Indian Ocean in return for advanced weaponry. If we couldn't get it from West what other options do we have? We have to protect our EEZ one way or the other.

I would like US aircraft as they are advanced, reliable and proven. F-15 fits the bill in place of Su-35. F-18 does too though it has shorter range compared to F-15. However F-35 will fit in nicely for our continental requirements if and when it is made available. PAF Chief made it amply clear that PAF intends to buy fifth Gen fighter in next five years or so. Chinese are pushing J-31 while Turkish TFX could become a real option too. I would like to see F-35 in the list of options too.

If there is money to throw around, better spend it on J 31.

 

[Paksanity]

that leaves the eft which is too expensive the rafale which is not gonna happen. that leaves china and the j31 and thats not even ready for another 5 years minimum.

EFT does not have the range for job and is ill suited for naval ops. It is yet to integrate Anti-ship missiles. I am pretty sure money will be arranged for the suitable aircraft.

If there is money to throw around, better spend it on J 31.

How can we make the decision on an aircraft which yet in the initial development phase? You spend billions on it and it turns out to be lemon; now what?!

 

[Khafee]

How can we make the decision on an aircraft which yet in the initial development phase? You spend billions on it and it turns out to be lemon; now what?!

You make lemonade

well lets put a bit of logic here. 8 jets offered to pakistan during the pakistans pm visit to the usa is not enough to even make a new squadron. so what the acm must be talking about is an idditional order inline with the original 8 jets. so basically it's 8 plus more. most likely the "more advanced" variant will be of similar spec to that of the f16-v which what lockheed martin is offering to indoneasia.

i think it was Horus who cleared it that there will only be 8 a/c's and Blk52+ NOT "v"

 

[Indus Pakistan]

He expressed satisfaction over the production and quality level of the JF-17 Thunder and said it is at par with the F-16 in terms of performance and operations.

Please. We are not children. Neither are we all cretins. Thunder is at par with F-16? Weeeeeeeeeee fanatstic. But wait a minute.

procure the latest F-16 fighter jets

Why? Can't we instead save the money and use it to upgrade production at Kamra? Or is it that Thunder is good but F-16 is even better?

negotiations with the United States

Air Marshal Aman Sahib why are we buying from Zionist-Isreal loving enemy of Islam America? Don'y you know you can't trust those Amreekans as they are plotting to destroy the Islamic citadel of Pakistan.

Please sir before you buy get some advise from @Zarvan as to the whether it is good move to buy from kuffar enemy.

 

[Dalit]

Going for more "advanced" sanction prone F-16s doesn't make any sense. I would rather opt for more JF-17s as opposed to F-16s at this stage. The current F-16 inventory is sufficient and ideally needs to be supplemented with superior platforms. If money is an issue we ought to stick with JF-17. Pakistan is probably hoping for F-16s on soft loan terms which seems unlikely.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

F16 is the best proven and tested platform and our Air force is an old user of these machines.

They should coordinate with Turkey for TAI TFX.

Agreed. Dollar for dollar it is the most effective combat fighter that fits within our air defence architecture. It is the way forward. It will equip the spear of the PAF. Let the bread and butter be left to Thunder.

Let there be no illusions. The tip of the spear is ....

 

[Blue Marlin]

EFT does not have the range for job and is ill suited for naval ops. It is yet to integrate Anti-ship missiles. I am pretty sure money will be arranged for the suitable aircraft.



How can we make the decision on an aircraft which yet in the initial development phase? You spend billions on it and it turns out to be lemon; now what?!

pakistan cant afford the eft if india thinks its expensive over the rafale.