ptldM3
SENIOR MEMBER
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Really, how can one address someone directly who can't differentiate between losing 8 twin engine aircraft over 15 years and without once firing in anger and losing 8 single engine over 35 years with at least ten of those years engaged in combat operations bagging a dozen victories....surely there must be a moral there.
Once again Pakistan had just 40 F-16s for 22 years! They were under embargo for another 15 years. Let that sink in. They spent more time in hangers and being cannibalized for parts then they did flying, which Pakistan could hardly afford anyways.
Some simple math, let's say all 40 Pakistani F-16 were operational for those 22 years (they weren't) and let's say Pakistani pilots received 200 flight hours annually which is impossible on Pakistan's budget that =176,000 flight hours over 22 years.
Take 200 flight hours for just 5 years out of a fleet of 210MKIs and you get 210,000 flight hours. Let's say for the other 10 years they only had 100MKIs operational at 200 hours annually that works out to 410,000 hours flown. Anyway you slice it Indian MKIs have racked up more flight time then Pakistani F-16s even though they don't have as long as a service history.
Out of those 40 F-16 how many do you think were actually operational because of the embargo? The reality is Pakistan canabalized a number of those F-16 for parts even the US does the same when they are in need of parts.
Now factor in the Pakistani defense budget which is almost nothing. How does Pakistan afford to feed, train, cloth, house one of the largest militaries in the world on a budget of penuts? The Pakistani navy, armored diversions and Air Force are all large so I'm sorry to burst your fantasy but Pakistan can not afford to give its F-16 pilots anywhere near the flight time as Indian pilots. It's just a reality.
In the late 1990s when the Russian military budget was almost twice that of today's Pakistani military budget the Russian Air Force was mostly grounded because it could not afford to keep aircraft flying. Somehow Pakistan is excluded from this? Does Pakistan F-16s use no fuel? Do Pakistan get free parts? Do Pakistani technicians work free? Does someone else pay for the legistics?
Pakistan had a very small amount of operational F-16s for decades (less then 40) that spent more time in hangers then they did in the air due to a broke Air Force with no money.
Compare that to India, which has atleast 3x more MKIs then Pakistan has F-16s and all the facilities to quickly get MKIs back in the air. Not to mention some MKI get as much as 300 hours annually. Pakistan doesn't come anywhere close to that considering it's meager defense budget and massive military.
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