Bilal Khan (Quwa)
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2016
- Messages
- 7,004
- Reaction score
- 97
- Country
- Location
Fair.Sorry Bilal, don't mean to dump on your favorites but the Rooivalk was a disaster lesson in program management, development, production, reliability, sustenance, and maintenance.
Don't have better hopes for Mk2; my own feeling is they will never get enough financing to start a meaningful program given all the money they bled when they were not so cash-strapped.
I believe Z-10s for the plains (maybe other places as well if they can get the new Safran engines on them) and T-129s for high-altitude operation remain the best bet.
Regarding the T-129, it's worth remembering that the Turks are also willing to loop Pakistan into the T-129 via work share, which would not only help with local support for Pakistani units, but help PAC commercially (by having source some parts for the Turkish forces). If we can get LHTEC to let us set up a MRO facility for the turboshaft, that would basically make this helicopter doable.Very well put.
Readers should please check actual payloads carried by the Apache in combat. It is still twice as much as the Marine AH-1F/S carry operationally but with enough engine power, a lighter helicopter is still just as effective, specially when used in flights of two or four at a time.
You are usually not limited by your payload in a sortie (if you can carry three or four missiles and a 19-pack of rockets per helicopter) but by fuel and other considerations. Hard to fly and maneuver with maximum payloads also, even for an Apache.
Furthermore, even though the 30mm cannon is effective against tanks, please Google the effects of firing a 30mm cannon from the Apache: the need to re-boresight it after every firing and its vibration effects on the fuselage are educational. The 20mm is better for infantry and APCs, and these days Thermobaric rockets and Hellfires are being employed primarily for anti-personnel duties.
Having the Z-10 as the anti-armour beater along the plains and deserts wouldn't be a bad idea either. The PLA's massive scale will make this platform very competitive in terms of cost (if not already). Cost is key if one intends to build numbers, which is essential if one wants thorough CAS coverage in Punjab and Sindh. The Army will want to ensure that cooling and resistance to sand and debris take priority above hot-and-high operations, especially if the T-129 is being sought for the latter. The AVIC-Safran WZ16 turboshaft might help in terms of getting the Z-10 to carry a mmW radar as well as lots of munitions.