Sir, we are also using M3/M5 from the same era. JH-7A is being discussed bcz China is offering to sell it by refurbishing to JH-7AII config (updated Radar,Electronics etc). We can use them for deep/maritime strike (if we can get them at a bargain price) and use M5 for our fleet/coastal defense.
The war is just around the corner and we need to increase the PAF strength. our only option seems to be J-10C or JH-7AII.
There is a hell of s difference ... mirrages are 50 years but are being retired. They are long obsolete and are being kept ooerative by canabilizing the previous one.
Do you know time and cost of inducting a new aircraft?
It will cost atleast 500 million dollars just to integrate and test and atleast 5 years to train and induct.
Is it worth while on an obsolete design?
It is not comparable to mirrages which we are ooerating since decades
Hi,
Off course thunder can launch the CM400---no doubt about it---but the issue is different---.
To get within the launch range would be very difficult---once you get in there---then you need a higher percentage of launch---.
What if your target is locked---you push the button and that one missile does not launch---.
What if you launch one missile and that one missile gets intercepted---for that reason---you need a 2 missile carrier---that increases your chance of strike---.
Again i say there is no dispute about need of a heavy strike naval fighter. The question is about priority. Our naval assets were not even capable of defending themselves. We need to recognize the fact that a strike aircraft cant replace a frigate as frigate keep on defending the area 25/7 whereas aircraft is there for a few minutes only and having this weakness our enemy could have destroyed our naval weapon system within hours. Thanks to recent efforts we will have a decent fleet by 2025 capable of defending sea line of communication.
Now in the air, priority is air defence in which we are outnumbered and soon to become out gunned too with arrival of rafael and meteor.
Now i think next priority will be our air superriority fighter either by upgrading f16s or by having a squadron or 2 of some other highly advanced fighter.
Only after setting this we can move towards getting a heavy strike naval fighter. Its more buying the food for survival first and getting supplements to be strong next.
However i think we should improvise by aquiring 5th generation tech and introduce a net centric war concept where our naval servillance assets such as p3c orion, tankers and other fleet could be equipped with long range land attack and antiship missiles that can be targetted using coordinates from attack aircrafts such as thunder mirrages and f16s...
This can be the most cost effective solution. We can have an impact of bomb truck with the agility of a fighter and this will have multiploer effect as well ...
The need is to get out of the box solutions as we can't beat india in tech and weaponary as they have 5 times higher budgets..