Fighters lose a lot of fuel just in taking off. Loiter time can make the difference in being able to provide enough aircraft in the fight. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli war; besides the surprise raid on the Egyptian air force; the IDF was better at sustainability of its fleet and effective sortie generation capability. With all of the major motorways Pakistan is building, I hope they are keeping sortie generation and dispersal in mind. As part of Sortie generation; aerial refueling can really help the PAF maintain its numbers in the face of 2:1 odds. the 3 IL-76 tankers are great but they are really big and require major runways to keep operating. The C-130 and its Chinese Equivalent could be landed on the motorways. The C-130 has actually been tested in this manner in Germany and South Korea. These were two countries where war could break out and front line lifting capacity is needed. A Y-9 Tanker variant operated in this manner could help the PAF disperse and fight on again an IAF attack.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highway_strip
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...axidriving_on_Autobahn_DoD_DF-ST-84-09439.jpg
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/a...on-a-highway-between-yongju-and-punggi-4e836b
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/cont...oduct/KC-130J.png.pc-adaptive.full.medium.png
The JF-17 has a
Internal Fuel Capacity: 2,329 kg (5,135 lb) (Source: wikipedia)
The Y-9 has a
Useful load: 25,000kg (55,090lb) (Source: wikipedia)
The PAF has 20 Fighter Squadrans; 2-3 Y-9 per squadron would allow the PAF to sustain loiter time and be able to concentrate fighter numbers over a larger area, because aircraft would not have to stay close to base to refuel. Operating from the growing Motorway network, both the Fighters, Tankers, and other Y-9's bring in spares and weapons, the PAF could fight on even if they lose all their bases. A robust infrastructure at key "secret motorway bases" would allow the PAF to stockpile spares and weapons nearby. Dual purpose Fuel depots spread throughout the country could in war time, sustain the PAF. (Obviously secret stores of Jet Fuel would have to be co-located with the weapons and spares; or in mobile trucks in secret locations).
PAF is currently digesting the lessons from the latest Shaheen exercise and planning out the next Shaheen Exercise. Motorway Operations should be more and more a part of the Shaheen exercises. It not only benefits Pakistan; but China's ability to disperse and sustain Sortie generation. The experience gained from these operations, will also help market the JF-17 with a Y-9 Tanker and ZDK-03 AWECS as the ultimate combination for a customer to detect, prosecute and sustain the fight.