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I'd say money is still an issue. The Navy has been able to push through with some programs, yes, but that's with line of credit offers extended by China and Turkey (esp. China x3). Sure, the same might be available to the PAF as well, but there's a limit to it and the PAF might not want to...

The US will have something to say about it. Best case scenario, the US would prefer that US companies get the subsystem contracts for any Pakistani F-16 upgrade, assuming even that comes to pass... That said, the Turkish AESA project could be interesting for Project Azm and future JF-17 variants.

I, @waz, @Tank131 were among the OG members... Back then, we were making lists, like the PN getting 4 Type 054A, 4 MILGEM, etc. We were ahead of our time.

IMO there are flaws in your reasoning here; So what if your fighters are 30 years old? Is the age of the fighter the metric here or its internal subsystems and weapons capabilities? Those 30-year-old F-16s have data-link connectivity with AEW&C, a credible BVR, EW and precision-guided strike...

I think the 'corvette' class is the Damen OPV. The PN can basically get several of Damen OPV 1900s for the price of one MILGEM Ada. I think the Jinnah-class could be, especially if the ToT includes the design, the PN's next-gen mainstay frigate that it will build to supplant old ships or...

Careful, you might get a u-turn about how 'our 18 F-16 Block-52 are enough to stop hybrid grey warfare, and hybrid grey warfare is the only threat.'

Consider the random u-turn the PAF made between April 2018 and November 2018 on LIFT aircraft ... it went from saying, "we don't need one, LIFT is overrated" to basically asking vendors to throw in an afterburning turbofan into their designs...

Not the same as PN, but KSEW had manufactured one-off ships such as F-22P, the 3rd Agosta 90B, etc. Sure, the PN itself procured several of each type, but if the Jinnah-class frigate is a MILGEM Ada variant (LF-2400 or otherwise), then it's technically still in a series (3 corvettes + 1...

That 1:1 with the Jinnah-class and PNS Alamgir is interesting -- and it wouldn't be surprising either. But the big question re: Jinnah-class is if it'll be a one-off or is the idea to use the Jinnah-class as a means to gradually expand the frigate fleet (post-2030)? These are two vastly...

Not necessarily. The Jinnah-class frigate could also be the LF-2400 or some other lengthened variant of the MILGEM Ada. In fact, that would make the most sense seeing that ASFAT still frames the four ships as MILGEM Ada (i.e., the corvettes and one Jinnah-class frigate are from the same core...

Remember, the $83 m for each F-16 tag includes logistics and maintenance support. It's definitely a lot of money, but it's much, much less than the $280+ m per plane of the Rafale or Typhoon. Under the original FMF deal with Obama, 40% of the contract would be funded by the US, leaving the PAF...

In case anyone's interested in knowing, but the Leonardo Grifo-E is a GaN-based AESA radar. https://www.janes.com/article/85332/new-face-in-town-grifo-e-multimode-radar-aims-to-bring-aesa-to-a-wider-market

Transitioning POF to a new platform doesn't need to dependent on Army procurement. There are 2 parts to this rifle project: The cost of upgrading POF and licensing the design The cost of equipping the Army If the total cost of the program is $1.3 bn, then the cost of transitioning POF is...

I think, eventually, we'll see a long-range evolution of the HQ-16/LY-80. The LY-80 (ver.2/HQ-16B) is at 70 km, so it wouldn't be surprising if a 100+ km version comes down the line (with active radar-homing). The PN must have bought the Type 054A with the understanding that a good long-term...

Not sure. The AK MBT plant might be separate from the MBT rebuild/retrofit plant, and the latter was being used to capacity for the past 10 years. It's the new-build MBT line that has been slow. HIT has also yet to export new-build tanks, so that might also explain the gap.

IMHO ... not sure if Haider MBT is needed. HIT has under-used capacity for AK and, in the end, it might be a better idea to push HIT to its limit via a single next-gen MBT platform.

Seeing how Nigeria is paying $60 m per JF-17 Block-II, I think the cost -- i.e. flyaway plus maintenance, support, etc -- of each Block-III will be $75-80 m (of course, total costs will only be realized 10 years down the line).

I have a hunch... the 4th MILGEM -- i.e. Jinnah Class Frigate -- could be bought in more numbers in the 2020s to replace the F-22Ps in the 2030s. In fact, MBDA was at IDEAS with the Aster-15 and Aster-30; I asked them if the PN was relevant (re: Aster), and they said, "we have a future ship in...

Unfortunately, the problem might be too big for the armed forces leadership to handle alone. The PAF could desire as much as localization as it wants, but if the underlying industrial inputs needed for that aren't in Pakistan, then we will continue importing from somewhere.

Agreed. There must be other factors. I suspect one is that the LKF601E is only offered as a fixed array, while the KLJ-7A comes as either a moving array or multi-array (sides + front) solution. So you could get more flexibility via the KLJ-7A than LKF601E. The other is the LKF601E's lower power...