silent hawk
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This is where I feel the PAF may have an advantage.
Generally to fire a BVR the target must be acquire by the AI. Now according to post 2 the MIG 29K will pick up PAF block 52s first. However according to post 77 the F-16s block 52 shall pick up the adversaries much earlier. There is controversy here but atleast we can accept that the competion is between these two.
The Off boresight capability of AA-12 with Mig 29K AI is 45 degrees. On the otherhand the offboresight capabity of AMRAAMs with F-16 block 52 radars radars is 65 degrees. hence using internal AI the PAF block 52s while using AMRAAMs shall have off bore sight advantage of 20 degrees over their adversaries.
Neutral people in this thread have admitted that the Link-16 is superior than the tactical data links available with India. The biggest advantage of the link 16 is that it integrates data from own aircraft, AWACS and ground sensors as well. With India as the aggressor the fight is likely to take place over Pakistan in which case the link 16 shall give the Block 52s 360 degrees radar coverage. Using the helmetmounted cueing system the Block 52 F-16s while using AMRAAMs shall hence have an off bore sight capability of upto 180 degrees (academically)
The PAF is sure to develop its tactics on these facts and hence it is very likely that due to their unmatched off bore sight capability in future combat the block 52 F-16s may prove to be the best BVR capable fighters
Main engagement scenario is against other aircraft with fire-and-forget missiles like the Vympel R-77 (NATO AA-12 "Adder") — perhaps MiG-29s, Su-27s or similar. In this case engagement is very much down to teamwork and could be described as "a game of chicken." Both flights of aircraft can fire their missiles at each other beyond visual range (BVR), but then face the problem that if they continue to track the target aircraft in order to provide mid-course updates for the missile's flight, they are also flying into their opponents' missiles. Although in this regard the RVV-AE (which is the missile's export name or R-77 the official Russian Air force designation) does have an advantage as it has a greater range than the AMRAAM (when the AIM-120D is deployed the AMRAAM will have 30+ miles more range than the standard R-77[citation needed] but much less than the ramjet powered R-77M and the Meteor missiles which will also enter service along with AIM-120D). This assumes of course that all aircraft will detect each other
Data from Wikipedia..
The electronic warfare which is being used by us is proven a mix of systems from 3-4 countries. Plus, we have evaluated the F-16 systems thru MMRCA & from joint excercises with Singapore F-16s and familiar with it. and most probably we will not opt for it.
AoA RockStar nice to have you back. The bold portion is where the PAF link 16 makes the difference. Because the data is being provided by all available ground and air based sensors, the PAF F-16s shall be able to provide mid course updates to the AMRAAM without having to move in close. This is why I believe we may have an edge.