Issue is simple
- 1 Platform was being inducted under a grant
- Other platform JF17 thunder was part of a local project active for last 11-15 years (Paid for)
My opinion on the matter is that JF17 Thunder came to birth the main goal for the project was as follow
a) Locally manufactured plane that will fuel the airforce's demands for 20-25 years
b) An aircraft that we can induct in number and retire older generation aircrafts
c) Sale of the craft was a interesting component but it was lower priority vs first Arming the Pakistan Airforce
d) Was the vision of Block by Block upgrade of the craft (i.e Block 1, Block 2, Block 3)
So when we view the today's situation JF17 thunder has
already achieved its success parameters.
Now question with respect to the F-16 , I think the reason why our Airforce liked the idea of inducting the Block C/D was in order to benefit from Available FMS program , which allowed allies to induct modest number of military units as part of the coalition cooperation understanding in war against Terror.
Why should Pakistan Use F-16 C/D vs JF-17 thunder well simple , the Western frontier (Afghan Province) is merely a uncontrolled areas and since the coalition force and allies had run operations in that area it was only fair that the tools provided by the coalition force were used in this operation
Why would we put mileage on JF-17 , for this purpose , if there is a program available to help recover the Mileage and wear and tear on our fleet (F-16 C/D) it made sense to benefit from the program like most air-forces of the word benefit from such programs.
1- Pakistani Airforce fleet is taking in mileage on its planes which do operations in Border areas
so a meaningful benefit from the prorgam FMS was to recover the loss of mileage on planes and wear and tear
not forgetting the ammo / bombs we use are all going to waste
2- FMS program obviously will not help recover the mileage and wear and tear on JF17 thunders so it is not ideal for that purpose and also the first few squadrons are mainly for (Air Combat Training School for Pakistan)
Summary:
If Pakistan Airforce , requested F16 C/D it was only because of the reason we were part of a coalition program to help fight terrorism
We were part of international coalition against Terrorism and such it demanded a plane provided by the FMS program for a common enemy and
I think we had a Understanding
We requested brand new planes becasue as you know our fleet is old just had a MLU , so made sense to induct new F16 C/D planes so that they could absorbe the stress of rigorous missions (on Western Frontier) and it would not effect our existing fleet which is for National defense
Example:
When students go to University or college they get Scolarship ?
Why do students chase after scolarship , when they can pay for it themselves , simple
They chase Scolarship , as it is a "GRANT" . It is an acknowledgement of the effort by the student
Same with PAK airforce , if it had a grant available why would we not induct such a plane if we were part of a coalition against Terrorism
Pakistan Military / Airforce / Navy all went in conducted operations with intent of disrupting the Terror infrastructure - example "Operation Zard-e - Azab" and many other operations , example of the solid operations run by Pakistan Military