Tired of so many quarelling on J-10 vs. Rafale.
IMHO, given geopolitical and economic reasons, I find PAF with very few choice besides J-10.
So whether J10 is comparable to Rafale or not is really irrelevant. A good question would be when J-10/or J-10B would be delivered to PAF and in what amounts.
More importantly, 36 # of J-10 would definitely no match for IAF's new birds whatsoever. The type of mind-set that PAF should always on par with IAF is simply outdated. In both quality and quantity, I see no possibility that PAF would outperform IAF in forseeable future.
Some people may argue, Pakistan is not alone, when facing India. But I would seriously think thats some sort of myth.
Of course China would always be a reliable country for weapons and collarborations in anti-terror. But in terms of warfare, China is increasingly a regional power that has so many troubles to worry and so many borderlines, sealanes to take care and guard.
Would China take the risk of a full scale war with India, a nuke country with effective projection capabilities? Not even mentioning India is a trading partner and we're still much more interested in pursuing economic growth than to get involved in a total war.
In terms of support that Chinese could give in a resonably-controlled small scale, low intensity confilict to help our Pak friends. There will be only a handful squadrons of J-10, J-11 based in Chengdu Military Region and 3 brigades (incl. 54th Merchanized Infantry Brigade) of land force based in Tibet may be used.
PAF needs a reliable source for its platforms, it needs a cost/performance acceptable platform, thats simply why J-10 is the ultimate chioce. And as long as 36 J-10 could play a minimal deterrence role, people shouldn't be dissatisified. It is the economic growth, governance and living standard improvement and of course nukes being the backbone of Pakistani national security, not any fancy birds.
