Good answer and logical post leave aside nuclear threshold aside.
1. Air Launched, and Land launched Brahmos could be first used to soften the target and to target the hardened and well protected targets like forward bases, radars, installation etc. The advantage of using Brahmos is the sheer speed aka low response time and difficult to intercept for pakistan with the current SAMs. If I would have been the IAF chief our prime target would have been the ground radars, and the bases including the bases for the AWACS instead of AWAC platform i.e SAAB 2000. For surgical strike SEAD mission using UAV like heron and antiradiation missile like KH55.
Prime target distroy the radars installation there is no need to distroy the SAM tel which will be concluded during DEAD when ground attack Jaguars low flying ability would be needed.
2. India nuclear doctrine have provided ballastic missile as the delivery platform and not the supersonic cruise missile like brahmos and both have different tragectory and it could be distinguished easily in radar screen than which nuclear threshold.
3. Do you really think after depleting radars and sams threat Indian Su 30 or the su 30 formation will come alone. My guess is it will come with the formation of Mix of Mki acting as command station with KLINIT SPJ providing SAM jamming cover to the formation of Mirrage 2000UPG/mig29 UPG and Jaguar and during air to air conflict with F-16 the BVR R-77 with superior range and more BVR load will have upperhand. Yes if Indian followed the russian strategy of firing 2 BVR i.e 1 with the active mode and 2nd with IR guided mode per aircraft than the chances of BVR hitting the target will increased upto 85%. IAF have advantage of longer BVR experience and strategies build over decades as compared to PAF and more friendly exercises and have more different array of BVR than the PAF counterpart
4. In WVR guns vs guns i think is over but anyway with the event of high boresight, highly manuevour missile like R-73, Python and AIM MX have closed the window for the dogfights of planes with trailing gunfires. Regarding f16 trained pilot skills I cannot comment because it differ from one pilot to another but I can assure you that Indians pilot are no FUSS. They spend long time in air practicing and there is in pilot skill development of Indian Airforce is not bad at all by any standard.
5. Disadvantage of PAF is in nos How many F-16 is available with the Paf. Keeping one more thing in mind that the Indians have equiped even Mig 21 Bison with BVR.
Janab thanking you for your points. There is no point of discussion with you after I read
As for being defend able ... that is a whole different debate .. The patriot is supposedly the world's best when it comes to interception of missiles etc. but the success rate against SCUDS (which was originally made in the Soviet union era) is 70% in war/real situations ... As for having assets .. we do have Surface to air missile assets that do have the capacity to undertake such tasks .. such as SPADA 2000 ...
Scuds is ballastic missile by the way Janab
I do know the Scuds are ballistic missiles ...
do you have success rates of such SAM's against cruise missiles in a war time situation ... maybe you'd like to quote the success rates of some systems because I was not able to find them ...
I did find your reply interesting, certainly alot more then the previous ones with no arguments .. only talk of prove this prove that ... Since there is no point in discussing with me ... don't read the following cuz it might just hurt your feelings ..
There are QUITE A FEW "assumptions" that you use to build your case ...
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The assumption that future weapons of India are already in service .. eg. Air launched version of Brahmos is already inducted when its not even tested .. (was originally scheduled for 2015 but now its 2016)
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The assumption, that Pakistan would be responding accordingly with the Indian doctrine of non usage of nuclear weapons in cruise missiles ... like brahmos which are nuclear capable as per some sources ...so in the chaos of the war ... you think that somehow Pakistan will hold back against a weapon that could probably carry a nuclear war head...
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The assumption that PAF, and PA won't respond to "softening" of the defense ... what happens when Pakistan unleashes its own barrage of stand off weapons and cruise missiles that we possess against India ...
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The assumption that IAF will be able to deplete Pakistan's radar and SAM assets ... we have an airforce that is designed from the outset to have low turn around times and high availability owing to platforms that require low maintenance ...so how do your SEAD and DEAD operations go, while you face resistance .. and the threat of being subjected to the taste of your own medicine ...coupled with the fact that your airforce is largely composed of maintenance intensive fighters.. quadrupled with the fact that you have an airforce in PLAAF that is a known hostile .. so what steps will the IAF take as contingencies against these sorta odds ...
-The series of assumptions you use with the aircrafts going up against each other ...
-The first being the IAF will be more proficient with BVR usage because it has more experience compared to the Pakistani pilots .. however somehow in WVR pilot training is brushed off with statements such as as ...
"I cannot comment because it differ from one pilot to another but I can assure you that Indians pilot are no FUSS" --
what do you think PAF pilots were doing when they did not have the BVR's ?? .. they were perfecting the WVR which the airforce is famous for and quite proficient in ...
-The second assumption being, the R-77 has a more superior range compared to the AMRAAM's ... discounting the fact that most BVR engagements would take place in distances where pilots are the missile is most likely to score a kill ... that discounts the range advantage although t
here is no range advantage to begin with as ... the IAF operates the R-77 RVV-AE which has around approx 54 NMI range ... Aim-120 C5 on the other hand has approx 57 NMI range .. so unfortunately for you .. the version IAF currently operates, range wise is actually inferior to the Aim-120 C5 ...
-Thirdly, do look up F-16 configurations as to what type of weapon mix it can carry ... hint .. alot deadlier then you think ...