That's monumental task. I was under the impression that we are going to replicate JF17 program but this time we would contribute more on R&D. But why is everyone adamant that it will fly soon, whether it is this article or previous CAS.
These are some Very big statements but we all know it take decades not couple of years to have the required infrastructure to build 100% aircraft at home. He’s not talking about simple aircraft, he specifically talking about 5th generations fighter. Only few countries in the western world have been able to produce 4th generations fighter, this not an easy task.
It's a situation of necessity driving action.
Pakistan is perpetually short on dollars.
Pakistan is regularly denied new tech.
India has every support mechanism available, Pakistan has none (that India can't counter).
There's no other way than to develop and make your own high performance jet at home, and to localize every critical component.
In a way, the PAF embraced the logic of those who spearheaded our nuclear program in the 1970s, i.e. trust no one, and employ a deterrent.
So, is it ambitious? Yes. Is it difficult? Yes.
That said, there are places where Pakistan can learn a lot about it. You have Brazil, it knows a lot about aircraft supply chain management. There is also Ukraine, which knows gas turbines and engine technology. And finally, there's South Africa, which tried making a next gen jet (in the 1980s this was the 4 / 4.5 gen Carver), and that too 100% local, so it has a lot of expertise and lessons.
You also lack any counter incentive in Pakistan. In India, you have multiple factions jockeying to sell imports, which negatively can affect homegrown work. That's not there in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, it's basically Azm or nothing. So it will move forward. There'll be delays, issues, etc, but in the end, the payoff is really, really huge.
You develop a gas turbine industry which will cut imports and drive high value exports.
You develop a composites fabrication industry that will drive high value exports.
You expand the engineering design and testing base, which, again, will drive exports.
Those exports will bring dollars, and we can really put that towards nation building while also meeting our national defence needs.
Plus, we need to have some faith as well. If we put in all of the effort, and for the right reasons, we can also expect good things. It's in our beliefs.