As I now in a library, I can now reply better
The reason why PA cannot effectively use Z-10 or T/A-129 now is because of the craft itself. It doesn't matter if China or Turkey offer their chopper for free, even free stuff have a price tag and the maintenance cost would far outspend the existing Infrastructure in place with the Cobras.
When PA have substantial knowledge on how to upkeep a cobra better than going for a new system, where you literally start from Zero. You will have to send teams of mechanic and pilot to China and Turkey to train with the platform, then they will have to come back to Pakistan and teach the local PA mechanic and pilot on how to operate and maintain the craft. Without regarding the time to build up their efficiency to the Cobra level, the training regime alone would take 1 to 2 years time. Helicopter did not grow on tree, you can't make 50 or 100 helicopter in a year or any short period of time. Especially when China and Turkey are fielding both Helicopter themselves, you can understand they won't try to field Pakistan first instead set their own stock as their priority. All in the while PA would still need to wait for the T-129 and Z-10 to deliver, as they are new system, that mean you are simply gotta go with initial low production, which most likely ended up using them in training only, so you are talking about maybe 10-20 Z-10 or T-129 for the first few years and you still have to get proficiency with them. and that number is already very generous.
On the other hand, AH-1W is an old platform, that mean they are ready built, and the PA crew were trained substantially in them already, literally you can fill in the gas and you can go. (Well, I know it's not that simple) Where the accessories, armament and crew are already in place, basically, it would be fit in your old stock just like that. The only time you wait is for the US to ship them to you. That's it.
Another major problem you can see is the doctrine. AH-1 Built with US doctrine in mind, it was an American Helicopter, and they build on behalf of their own Combat doctrine regarding helicopter gunship. So when Pakistan Army use the AH-1, they don't just bought the system, they bought the US Gunship doctrine as well.
AH-1 and AH-64 is different than most Attack Helicopter there are in the market, they are not better or worse, just different, this is because US have a different doctrine using helicopter gunship than the rest of the world. Now the reason why Cobra works in Pakistan is because the situation in Pakistan is a bit similar than what the US expected during cold war, facing a massive enemy with a lot of tanks. In US doctrine, when you are facing a lot of tanks, you first ram your helicopter in the fray, and interdict the enemy column by taking out their leads(Commands), comms and ammo and fuel vehicle, then you left them stun, and you assault the enemy using your own armour and mechanized infantry to fill the gap between your armoured.
In order to perform what I just said, you will need two things, 1.) A tank that's more advance than your foes, and 2.) A helicopter gunship that you can use as a scout. What ticks the US Gunship is they are also scouts (Or in layman term, Light Attack Helicopter) in the old days, the US uses AH-6 Little bird with UH-60 Blackhawk and OH-58 Kiowa with Ah-64 Apache or AH-1 Cobra team to do the work, but today as the Kiowa retired, the US Army were left with Apache alone to scout the enemy, that's why the longbow system worth their money.
Now, other country have a doctrine to use their helicopter only to support their armour, what they essentially do is, they would ram their tanks in first, then fly their gunship using their tank to provide target coordination, essentially becoming the shooter of an armoured assault.
Now, if PA want to change from using AH-1 to T-129 or Z-10, then they will also need to change their way of forward thinking and doctrine development. They would have to move away from localised fight with standalone helicopter instead they would need to build a larger armour force and possible better AWAC system to compensate the lost of scouting ability from the Cobra. And that is not gonna do in just 1 or 2 years, not even maybe 5 years, and PA needed gunship now.
but hey, what do I know? According to
@Keel, I am just a dude who is ignorant about military, law and geopolitics and maybe a private mopping floor and that's much about all I do in the military LoL
@DESERT FIGHTER @Thəorətic Muslim
