It would be interesting to know the PAF's view of why investment was never made into FC-31 which would give us actual development experience of a 5th Gen platform? I mean, irrespective of whether the Chinese government invests in it or not, it was always in our best interest to acquire the technological know-how.
It is a very valid question and needs a careful thought.
Firstly we dont actually know what the PAF contingent in China is upto. So a logical answer may be that they are somehow involved or at least in the information loop.
Secondly the body responsible for the J31 is looking for partners to finance the project. We dont want to invest as it is potentially a bottomless pit being a risky project and our resources and possibly our needs are limited.
The 5th generation fighter technology is the pinnacle of modern day avionics industry. In this business you dont share your trade secrets with anyone. They would therefore have a reason to keep us out.
Thirdly we have our hands full with the development cycle of JFT which is still on going therefore we cannot spare the staff and the resources. This would be another reason why at the moment we are not actively involved.
Lastly we are not more than a teenager as far as our aviation facities go. We dont have expertise to offer in the project. We are hoping to piggy back on the Chinese development cycle to move our development along.
Once the JFT blocks progress we will go on to incorporate some of the knowledge acquired from hither and thither to incorporate in our development cycle and firstly try our results on the local fighter itself. Once successful we will then take these rsults into the newer projects.
With the exception of the 16s which are fast receeding as a compulsion, I dont think we will incorporate any other air craft which will not be built in part locally. So if we do go for the J31 we might ask for offsets on basis of locally building parts and frame, something we are fast becoming good at. This might bring the price upwards but the boost to our aviation industry will be tremendous something which we have seen with the sub deal with China.
A