Pakistan Army's aviation wing is much more sophisticated than PAF's. And just for the record, PAF doesn't operate our major helicopter fleet. Pakistan army AVIATION does. That's an entirely different branch of Pakistan Army and NOT Pakistan AIR force.
Currently, PAF only operates Alouette III's and a few MI-17's for S&R missions. But in case of emergency, Pakistan army aviation is always there to respond.
I remember back in 1998, One of PAF's F-7P crashed near bahawalpur and my Father was on a refuelling status at the airbase in Bahawlpur at that time. And due to the unavailability of any rescue team, he had to lead the rescue mission on his SA-330 Puma. So yes, coordination between PAF and PAA is always there. Oh and the pilot ejected and was safely taken to a hospital after recovering him from the crash location.
As far as the 'Reputable' helicopters from AA are concerned, We have a pretty decent fleet for now.
Bell-412's & UH-1H's for VIP/General transport and light troop transport along with relief operations and air support,
SA/IAR-330 Puma's for Troop transport, Air support, VIP transport, and special operations,
MI-17's for troop transport and relief operations,
Eurocopter AS-350 Ecureuil's for VIP transport and high altitude missions,
AH-1 F/S Cobra's for attack operations,
Bell Jet-Rangers for reconnaissance and light relief operations,
Alloutte III's for reconnaissance and general transport. We're in a process of upgrading our fleet but for now, I don't see a problem with the current one. It's doing it's job well enough but of course, we can use a couple of new birds.
We need to procure a decent amount of attack helicopters but our primary role for attack choppers have always been as TANK hunters instead of
Taliban hunters. Since we're seeing an increase in man-based Anti-Tank weapons, the need for an attack helicopter is slowly on the verge of fading away. However, we'll still operate our attack choppers as Tank hunters in the future simply because AT air support from attack helicopters will remain indisputable. A couple of AH-64 apache's wouldn't hurt us but the price tag is way too much for those. We'd rather procure the twin engine AH-1J/W or AH-1Z Super Cobra's instead of going for the Apaches. Also because we've been working with the Cobra gunship for quite some time now and our recent upgrade of Baktar-shikan AT rockets on our Cobra's has given us a great amount of benefit and it will prove quite handy in the future. Better to get an effective, reasonably priced platform that we've already worked on then getting something completely new. I'm not saying we shouldn't, I'm saying that AH-1J/W suits us better.
In terms of transport helicopters, I don't see Pakistan Aviation grounding the MI-17 fleet anytime soon for the same reasons. We've worked with them for quite some time now (Including MI-8's) and they're cheap, reliable, and cost effective for their role in our army. They're also great for modifications and can be used as light attack helicopters for air support in times of war.
All in all, valid point about the upgrade of our fleet, but I can ASSURE you that there's a lot of planning going on in that sector for our future procurements. Sit tight, and watch how it'll all unfold
