TNT
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Actually, we got the price issue from Pakistani sources. The Italian AESA apparently had better range and reliability than the KLJ-7A, but price made a huge impact, as at that time of procurement Pakistan was going through a number of difficult financial situations.
While there is always the issue of getting a watered down version, what Italy was offering Pakistan was clearly superior to the Chinese offer in practically every way, except price.
Sometimes, the simplest answer is the easiest; Pakistan simply couldn't afford the Italian offer.
Around that time, Pakistan was also going through a rifle replacement competition (one of the rifles offered was Italian), which has also since been shelved, as Pakistan's economic situation is still quite poor.
This is correct. It gives militaries experience against hardware that they're likely to face in the real world. The US buys second hand Russian equipment for a reason.
Can u provide a rough comparison of prices between the two? I doubt a country would dump a good option for few million. Also weapons integration is another issue, would chinese pl10 and pl15 be allowed to integrate with italian AESA? Furthermore there is always that hanging sword of deal being cancelled at the very last moment. In any case PAF professionals are in best position to take decisions and I'm sure they took the best decision in given circumstances. My point in general, we should not get our hopes high for western equipment, as the geopolitical situation evolves, its going to get even more difficult.