Thanks for opening this thread.
Is it a safe assumption that these type of shows could only throw some light on the WVR abilities. How much of this agility would be useful in the modern BVR warfare?
@PARIKRAMA @Abingdonboy @Vauban @knight11 @Nihonjin1051 @mike2000 is back
Hmmmm....this is a tricky one
.
On "pen and paper" i will say HAL Tejas is a better aircraft performance-wise.
But, there are three points to consider before rushing to the conclusion:
However, HAL Tejas is not yet combat-ready, and, God knows when it would be.
Exclusive: Modi pushes 'obsolete' made-in-India plane on reluctant military
JF-17 is going through its Block-III development phase. Once, the development is complete, it would achieve significant improvement in terms of performance and capability. Better engines, better avionics, better radar, and so on. Just imagine a JF-17 with Saturn engine, and,
Phazotron Zhuk AE AESA Radar!!!
And, finally, The "pen and paper" shortcomings of JF-17 is due to is budget constraint, not because of the lack of capability of the developers.
The JF-17 project was based on China's abandoned Super-7 project. It cannot be called a Mig-21/F-7 copy unlike what some people here often claim
. It can be, at most, described as development over Mig-21/F-7.
Designs need not be original always. If a design is successful and battle-proven, it doesn't need to be abandoned. Think of Sukoi (Flanker) and Mirage aircraft families. Su-30, 34,35, 37 were all developed from Su-27. In case of Mirage, there were as many as 11 developments over the original design. See:
Mirage (aircraft). There are also IAI Nesher, IAI Kfir and Atlas Cheetahs.
If we adjust the price of the 80’s F-16 for inflation, JF-17 is much more cheaper. The price will become more cheaper with the increase in number of export sales.
F-16 is in Block-62 stage, whereas JF-17 is just in Block-2. So, it has still plenty of room to improve. There are plenty of off-the-shelf Chinese equipment available. Moreover, Pakistan's relationship with Russia is warming up. So, there is a strong possibility of import of Russian AESA Radar, avionics, and, BVR missiles in near future as you yourself mentioned earlier
As compared to the airplanes that were directly benefited by US/Western technologies, it is a low-tech fighter.But If you consider a similar air-craft, such as, HAL LCA Tejas of India, which has access to plenty of Western technologies,and, which is still to finish its test sorties, it is far more successful.
Similarly, JAS Gripen project started in the early 1980s. Apart from some Swedish(ad Brazilian) orders, the number of sales is not very significant.
The point people often miss is, JF-17 was custom build for PAF according to their specific needs and requirements. So, it is natural that it would not be so easy for Pakistan/China to sell it to a third country. The countries that abandoned the purchase are either not in a very good shape in terms of economies, or, do not have any urge to buy air-crafts. They were offered the aircraft by Pakistan, those were kind of pushing sales. Burma is buying 16 air-crafts(potentially though, since it's still not certain . lol ). If we consider the original purpose of the aircraft, that is a lot of sales. This figure will be increased day by day(hopefully).
China can buy or even copy Russian air-crafts. They don't have any financial constraint either. So, there is no need for them to buy JF-17.
Pakistan is on the course of improving its relationship with Russia. If the situation improves, Pakistan may buy Russian Su-30s. Then, JF-17 may even be pushed to the sidelines.
Pakistan is one of the poorest country in the world(no offence here though). Better that China is a friendly neighbor. Otherwise, Pakistan would have been flying some F-6 or F-7 by now.
Does Volvo Aero manufacture their own engines for JAS Gripen? No. They use modified GE F404 engine. HAl Tejas is scheduled to use numerous foreign avionics and equipment as well.
So, getting a airplane manufactured by China, trying to learn the manufacturing technique, and, trying different configurations and ordnance is not a bad thing at all. It should have been a very exciting experience for Pakistani team. The design and research phase saved a lot of money and considering the low economic performance of the country, the situation of the industry is quite encouraging.
Now looking at the Big-boy's Club:
However , i will confess DRDO of India has wasted millions of dollars in their HAL LCA Tejas and Kaveri Engine program. On the other hand, India has blocked several western technologies so that Pakistan cannot have access of them. Considering the size of India’s economy and its manipulation of the West, Pakistan can boast its JF-17 as a big success and is really playing with big boys.
So in Conclusion i will say finally and above all, It doesn't matter whether it is a Mig-21/F-7 copy or anything else. The matter is, as long as PAF is able to redesign, test and improve it whenever and whatever they need, that is the big advantage for them which most other (mostly developing) countries in the world do not have. Just my opinion though and from what i have red so far about both fighters.
