Bilal Khan (Quwa)
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Numbers will never compensate for heavier payload. With more units, you require more fuel, sorties as well as maintenance people to ensure that those numbers compensate for a heavy gunship. In a single sortie a Rooivalk can deploy 16 ATGM. In fact, that very same single Rooivalk can carry 16 ATGM and ferry a millimeter wave radar on its top rotor. Pulling off similar capabilities aboard smaller helicopters would necessitate more flying units to provide payload and possibly a scout or two to carry the radar.There's no chance for Rooivalk. We can manage the same upload thing by increasing the units. Like we always did. Ex:Jf-17 thunder. We need an potent & agile aircraft which proves to be effective in war scenarios.
Z-10 is a fine choice. We must go for T-129 in one case if Pakistan is planning to start co-production with full TOT then it would be a fair choice otherwise z-10 would be an easy go. Even in war time we can maintain our numbers in no time.
Anyways, the heavier payload wasn't the Rooivalk's only advantage. With the Rooivalk, we also have the fact that it shares the engines, rotors and gearbox as the Super Puma transport helicopter. The Pakistan MoDP was apparently interested in Pumas built in Romania, and the only Pumas coming out of Romania are Super Pumas. Such level of commonality is a major advantage in its own right - common logistics and maintenance channel, single investment (in infrastructure) supporting two different platforms, and a chance to localize a lot of it via ToT.