You have misunderstood me. The question is not one of money but of wise spending of it. PAF is risk averse so will not indulge in a project which is resource intense with an unlikely outcome. In a nutshell it would rather spend 2-3 billion and get a ready platform than indulge in research(especially if we dont have much to contribute to it ) on one which has an uncertain outcome both from the platform point of view and financial outlay. No one is getting j20.J31/some other platform has been on the cards and most probably will be inducted post 2020. Given that J31 has flown already PAF will likely go for it rahter than design another platform with its own latency factored in hence my prediction of 2023-25 for induction of J31. The other thing you need to consider is what the state of scientific knowledge is going to be like in a decade. This will also be a factor in the decision making
On the engine issue, I have stated that PAF will not go for an EU engine for the very reason it wont go for a US engine. So the alternates are Chinese or Russian. PAF may choose one or the other. To me it seems that we would have been dealing with the Russians for 4-5 yrs by the time the Chinese come out with an appropriate engine and the likely scenario is PAF will pitch one against the other to get the best possible deal. However there are imponderables here which we have to take into account when making a prediction for the future. For instance, what happens if the Chinese dont come up with an engine that is trust worthy.
The single vs dual engine debate will carry on and we have to see but considering the problems which the F35 is encountering, we may bite the bullet and go for a twin engined platform.
A debate on the prospect of Pakistani economy improving is useless at this point in time as it is all conjecture with no solid backing. I have had this debate with many in 2007 when I said Pakistan has serious economic issues underlying and all this hoohaa about progress and economic boom is hogwash and I was booed all the way . Guess what happened post 2008. So lets talk about it once we have achieved it.
Fifth v/s 6th generation debate is one that I have an inkling will become more of a reality in a couple of years as the economic pressure bite in. the cost of running a fleet of fifth generation fighters and the human cost of their loss will slowly guide people towards it. It may be for another forum but the possibilities/permutations thereof are many and diverse and yet related so needed to be mentioned here.
I hope I have clarified my position.
Araz