I request if any of PAF ex or current pilot is here or any personnel related to PAF directly or indirectly who knows the capability of Jf-17 can throw some light here,to remove the conflict going on here
The previous pages are full of comments about the JF-17 capability and performance, as per inside information available from the PAF guys.
Said it before, but for you will say again, the F-16s fighter pilots transferred from F-16s to the JF-17 program when asked on voluntary basis to come back to the F-16 program, refused. And the refusal was based on the overall better, superior performance of the JF-17s over the F-16s we have.
Another member nabil05, also gave an account of how JF-17 beat the current PAF F-16 in a training dog fight, which i got confirmed from my pilot friend, and this happened not on one time, rather multiple times it beat the F-16.
The pilot's cockpit workload in JF-17 is much less compared to our current F-16s. And its radar is also better then our current F-16 radar.
Plus, many other things, which are to be mentioned and can be read in the previous posts in the thread.
Problem is, some people can't see or understand the constraints which were there and still are regarding the decision for going after JF-17. Just to mention few:
1. Price: Hell of a difference between 20M & 40M price tag between JF-17 & J-10
2. We need to replace the hundreds of near obsolete decades old aircraft, with something much better, which JF-17 fulfills way better then expected.
3. Engine issue, as we with difficulty got the RD-93s, getting the AL series would have been one hell of a task.
4. JF-17 is not going to be our front line aircraft, so no need to get frowns about it. If it had been our front line aircraft, then the concerns being shown are justified.
5. Great export potential of this aircraft, if exported as per the projections, it will give us good amount of money, which can be used to procure front line and better aircraft. And also utilized for R&D for further better variants & other equipment.
Many other plus points, but the one major point I see is the great potential for future upgrades, improvement and betterment in the aircraft and especially its design.
Simply to be put, what a task can be performed by a 20M plane, why use a 40M plane. By looking at our airspace and the location of the airbases facing our adversary, JF-17 becomes the perfect plane for defending the Pakistani airspace and the combination of J-10s and F-16s will give it a offensive punch also.
Do remember India is working on a SAM network, which won't give us much room for deep strike missions. Thus, PAF's major role would be to defend first, its airspace and its ground forces, and do offensive with PGMs mostly.