My impression is that the PAF wanted to bring the fleet to minimum 110 (though I think it may have been revised to 150). 110 was the quantity of A-8 aircraft that the PAF had wanted to procure during ZAB era, and the demand then switched over to F-16s during the Soviet-Afghan War. If I am remembering correctly, Peacegate 1, 2, 3, & 4 amounted to 110 F-16s in the end.
Outside blockers have always been there but Pakistan previously had managed to circumvent them during Reagan and GW Bush presidencies. Problem today is Pakistan's inability to sustain the US interest in the Pakistani state, particularly the security apparatus.
Back in 1998 or 1999, Flight International reported that the PAF wanted to get another 50 F-16s on top of the Peace Gate III/IV order. This report was part of a Flight International interview with then PAF CAS, ACM Qureishi. So, it was probably true.
IMO, had things gone the way the PAF had intended, the PAF would've been one of the world's biggest F-16 operators -- i.e., at least 150 aircraft by the mid-2000s.
Remember, in the 1980s and 1990s, there wasn't a fighter deal better anywhere on the market than the F-16. When it came to the cost, capability, support base, etc, the F-16 was at the top. So, for the PAF, it made total sense to work the F-16 into its mainstay multirole fighter. In other words, the F-16 was supposed to make up the majority of the PAF fleet.
In fact, when you read into the PAF history from the late 1970s and early 1980s, you'd see two distinct requirements:
1. a mainstay multirole fighter
2. a strike/attack fighter
In the late 1970s, the PAF kicked off the 'attack fighter' requirement by asking for 110 A-7s from the U.S. This got canned due to the U.S. not wanting to inadvertently give us a delivery capability for nukes. Then in the 1980s, the PAF switched gears to fill the multirole fighter requirement, and it asked for the F-16 or F-18L. But after it got the F-16, it re-visited the attack fighter requirement and, in turn, checked out the Jaguar (but couldn't afford it, so we went with the Q-5).
This is just my opinion, but if the PAF had completed its F-16 program according to plan, then it would've sought the Tornado. It was a strike-optimized system similar to the A-7, but more modern. I mean, the pairing of 150+ F-16s and 80 Tornados (a few new, but the bulk second-hand) would've been
That basically would have been our fleet to this day and right until we get an NGFA.