Pakistan F-16 Discussions 2

[fatman17]

Any thing comes out .......abt F-16 A/B MLU Process.

4 pattern MLU a/c at Hill AFB to be returned by Q-1-2012.
6 a/c delivered to TAI for MLU. the whole process / upgrade to take 42 months to complete the 44 upgrades.

 

[Najam Khan]

Pakistani Air Force F-16 Pilots

36 Pakistani Air Force pilots have reached 1,000 flying hours or more in the F-16 Fighting Falcon so far.

very selective group!!!

The actual count is more than 36. W/C Ghazafar and S/L Omar are members of 1000hrs club, not listed in it.

If one opens pilot profile page at the same site, it contains too much outdated information. Mostly pilots are not in those sqn now, some have moved onto Bk52 and some are promoted and posted elsewhere...profile page of Air Cdre Khalid at F16.net calls him Sqn Ldr(Retd)...

 

[FC 20]

FOR sanctions y not buy more f 16s through EDA for spares

 

[humza_313]

on f-16.net.. some w/c noman 'hornet' has more than 2000 hours..!

 

[humza_313]

It was actually F-20 Tiger Shark for which, US was hoping Pakistan would become a launch customer.
Before Pakistan some half a dozen NATO Countries had inducted the F-16, the initial batch for the PAF was in fact diverted from European assembly lines to speed up the delivery.

the paf was also offered f-5E model.. i have no info about the f-20 though... i got the reference from the book "story of paf 1988-98".. before that, the paf was also offered f-4 phantoms and a-7 corsairs... but the deal dissolved...! but is it true that pak was the first non-NATO country to acquire both f-104s and f-16s???

 

[SQ8]

the paf was also offered f-5E model.. i have no info about the f-20 though... i got the reference from the book "story of paf 1988-98".. before that, the paf was also offered f-4 phantoms and a-7 corsairs... but the deal dissolved...! but is it true that pak was the first non-NATO country to acquire both f-104s and f-16s???

The PAF was offered the F-5E.. to be followed by the F-5G(F-20)..
PAF was not offered F-4... but was offered A-7's prior to our nuclear ambitions.

Was not the first non-nato country to acquire the F-16.. that was Israel.

 

[krash]

mshoaib61 had the following to say in the http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-photos-multimedia/52814-paf-rare-birds.html thread:

F-20
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The violent Soviet invasion brought hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees to Pakistan. With the war being critical to Pakistan's national sovereignty and integrity, the PAF once again sought out modernization, including the procurement of new generation fighter aircraft. France offered its new Mirage 2000, while the PAF's senior officers were interested in procuring American F-16 or F-18L fighters. Initially the Americans refused to sell the F-16 or F-18L and instead offered F-20, F-5E/F or A-10 aircraft. Eventually the new Republican administration of Ronald Reagan approved the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, and in 1981 an agreement was made to supply 34 General Dynamics F-16A and 12 F-16B "Fighting Falcon" aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force

 

[fatman17]

mshoaib61 had the following to say in the http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-photos-multimedia/52814-paf-rare-birds.html thread:

pic is 'tampered' to add the PAF roundels.

 

[Kompromat]

pic is 'tampered' to add the PAF roundels.

How about this sir.

 

[araz]

Santro
I may be wrong but there was a smattering of info about PAF being offered F15s. Apparently PAF did not accept it due to its high price, and maintenance issues and insisted on F16s.
Araz

 

[krash]

pic is 'tampered' to add the PAF roundels.

Could be but Iv read somewhere else that the PAF did indeed extensively evaluate the F-20 and this pic has been claimed to be real.

How about this sir.

These were the F-5s sent to us by our Jordanian allies during the 1971 war but werent used by us due to the lack of ejection seats in them, or so Iv heard.......

Here is this depiction the pilots who ferried these aircraft to Pakistan were Squadron Leader Tahir Kheli, Squadron Leader Zaigham Aizad and Flight Lieutenant Bilal Khan

 

[krash]

Here it is courtesy hassan1 (http://www.defence.pk/forums/military-aviation/90093-paf-rare-birds-3.html):

THE TIGER SHARK IS EVALUATED BY THE PAF
OVER MOJAVE DESERT, CALIFORNIA (4 FEB 1983)
THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN IN 1979 BROUGHT THE PAF BACK INTO THE MARKET FOR ACQUIRING A LOW COST FIGHTER TO COMPLEMENT THE INVENTORY OF THE 40 ADVANCED F-16S THAT HAD BEGUN TO BUILD UP FROM EARLY 1983.THREE AMERICAN OPTIONS WERE EVALUATED BY THE PAF,THE FAIRCHILD REPUBLIC A-10 THUNDERBOLT,THE LTV A-7 CORSAIR 2,AND THE NORTHEN F-20 TIGERSHARK,A SINGLE ENGINED DERIVATIVE OF THE F-5 OF THE THREE,THE TIGERSHARK WAS THE BEST BUT SINCE IT HAD NEITHER A LARGE CUSTOMER POTENTIAL NOR A COMPETITIVE PRICE, THE PAF FINALLY CHOSE THE CHINESE F-7P TO CREATE THE MIXED FORCE THAT ECONOMICALLY MET ITS OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS.THE PHOTO SHOWS THE F-20 BEING PILOTED BY GROUP CAPTION ABBAS H.MIRZA. (LATER AIR VICE MARSHAL) DURING A FIVE SORTIE EVALUATION HE FLEW ON HIS FIGHTER FROM THE NORTHROP FACILITY AT EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE,CALIFORNIA.THROUGH THE EVALUATION PERIOD,THE F-20 CARRIED THE PAF ROUNDELS AND FIN FLASHES.

 

[SQ8]

Santro
I may be wrong but there was a smattering of info about PAF being offered F15s. Apparently PAF did not accept it due to its high price, and maintenance issues and insisted on F16s.
Araz

Not sure about that..
The PAF had its eye on the F-16 the minute the jet came out.
You dont just go gaga for a jet that much till you believe its a match made in heaven..
the F-16 truly is everything the PAF wants out of a jet.

 

[fatman17]

both the F-15 and F-14 were not offered to the PAF. Pakistan was what is known as a '2nd tier' country (and remains so), therefore is always offered systems which are 1-step below the best available. the F-16 was approved by the then Prez R/Reagan because of the soviet invasion of afghanistan. if that event had not taken place, PAF wld be flying the F-5 in large numbers.

 

[epinephrine]

US OFFERED PAK WITH F4 , A10 ,F-16 J 79 AND F-16 A.PAF MADE A GOOD DECISION BY GOING FOR THE BEST OPTION i.e F-16 A