Possibility of F-35 for Pakistan Air Force

[Indus Pakistan]

Now I know from the title, many of PDFians will be getting ready for trolling me or this thread, You guys almost typed your cheeky one-liners and Indians already bring their old argument of " Where is the money "? Buts let's discuss this notion for what it is worth. I will propose a couple of scenarios where it might be possible for the Pakistan Air force to get F-35's from the USA, So hear me out and also without trolling discuss the possibility by providing realistic approaches for this endeavor.

Scenario 1) As we know that US seems to be trying to pack its stuff from Afghanistan and leave, as much as I support the idea of bringing US troops home, something is not adding up for me, but in a hypothetical scenario what if (God Forbid) another massive Terror Attack hit America and its connection goes back to Pak-Afghan border regions? The US will definitely stay and then it will again come to if Pakistan will corporate or not (With us or against us) notion can come up again, but this time Pakistan's situation won't be as dire as it was back in 2001, Chinese Influence was minimum at that time along with their economical assistance, Russia was hesitant in building any relationship with Pakistan, Turkey was there but not as influential as they are today, so this time maybe US might use a different approach to Pakistan decision-makers (GHQ), and offer CSF, Financial and Military Aid, releasing all Military hardware which was held from Pakistan within a span of 1-3 years, and if this war sees the intensity and US keep relying on Pakistan to provide bases, Air space and route for US supplies then along the way (by end of this decade) maybe US will offer F-35's (18 units) similar to F-16's block 52's a sqd to PAF.

Scenario 2) America always used leverage on countries to do their bidding, there is no secret it that, they did this with every country except Israel, now in past several years the relationship between US-PAK has gone from bad to worse, and trust is as low as between Trump and Melania, with CPEC becoming Operational and Chinese replacing Americans in Pakistan from Financial Aid to Military hardware, the US think tanks might see this as another important ally going into Chinese camp, they might try to butter Pakistan in future because their Stick policy has not been that fruitful and it pushes Pakistan way to deeper in Chinese Camp. Specifically in Military hardware among many development and success of JF-17 stand out taller than any other procurement by Pakistan from China, and now as JF-17 block 3 ready to roll out with AESA and other modern goodies it is a matter of pride for Pakistan but concern for West especially America, not because JF carries some Alien technology but the Independency Pakistan enjoys with their own fighter, no sanctions can hurt this program, no spare parts issues, no weapon integration and definitely no Kill Switches (only for @SQ8 ) All that experience, going into Project Azm which is the end game for PAF, developing a 5th Generation fighter, now when PAF chief told us that his vision is for PAF is to have 5th generation Air force by 2040, the actual catch here is that the independency which PAF is looking forward to, having 5th Generation fighter is not an issue after 2030, but building it at home through a sanction free supply chain is massive, which means Pakistan is taking away that one thing US always enjoy over weaker and financially starve nations like Pakistan, Leverage. So keeping PAF going from AZM, not because once again that AZM will bring some Alien tech to the table but bar Pakistan from getting fully independent over its Future Generation Fighter program they might bring an offer to the table which top brass at PAF won't be able to refuse, something like 1-2 Sqs of F-35 in a similar way they provide F-16's with US teams station at PAF bases to keep Chinese away from getting a glimpse of the tech.

Scenario 3) Pakistan become financially stable, the economy picks up and exports increase along with Foreign reserves, CPEC attracts more countries to invest, security situation improve amid Afghan Peace, some sort of Peace deal with India is signed and a political/diplomatic approach to Kashmir is taken by both parties, hence the ties between US and Pakistan improve as after the Afghan withdrawal there is a chance that America stops seeing Pakistan through the lens of Afghanistan, but as a separate country with its own national interest, and as ties improve and Pakistani's pockets become healthier they can approach US with a proposal of a couple of Sqs of F-35's as Indians by mid-2030s will have their own plans in motion to transform their Air forces into a full 5th Generation Air force, leaving Pakistan behind will tilt the balance of Power in the region hence push Pakistan to test more Nukes and missile to keep that minimum deterrence against India.

Feel free to add any other scenario you seem fit, and Please avoid the typical arguments such as Pakistan is poor, etc, everyone knows that and the whole idea of this thread is to discuss some hypothetical scenario's not getting into some same old arguments.

Also, feel free to discuss the integration process such as building up infrastructure in PAC kamra to support F-35's, supply lines, weapon integrations, EW suites etc

@Bilal Khan (Quwa) @JamD @dbc @SQ8 @The Eagle @araz @Windjammer

To get F-35 first you must pass the 'blood' test'. If ant country meets this criterion then you could be entitled to ask for the F-35s and might, just might be lucky to get a "yes" from America. What is the "blood" test?

Are young Pakistani's prepared to fight and die for America?


Ps. You already know the answer. So stop having wet dreams.

 

[VCheng]

That is what we are trying to explain them.. Nothing is permanent, they are here for temporary and we are permanent, and we not allow them to ruin everything just like they did in the past, helping them to destroy soviets was our mistake and i hope india will never follow our path that would disturb the balance of the power

Every nation must pursue its own national interests as best as it can - always. Nothing else is permanent for any country. That is all, really.

On topic, if it serves US national interests to provide F-35s to Pakistan, it will do so in a proverbial heartbeat. If it serves Pakistan's national interests to get the F-35s, it will do so. Quite a simple situation.

 

[Indus Pakistan]

On topic, if it serves US national interests to provide F-35s to Pakistan, it will do so in a proverbial heartbeat. If it serves Pakistan's national interests to get the F-35s, it will do so. Quite a simple situation.

Reflects what I said. As you said it's self interest and knows no religion, language or skin colour. At least two counries meet my criterion of "blood" -

• Turkey
• UAE

And they were considered or might be considered for F-35s.

 

[Trango Towers]

I read the title and


Hahahhahahhahhha

 

[LeGenD]

We need to remember the F-35 is not a super duper plane. It’s a compromise design and what was cutting edge tech 10 years ago, is slowly becoming the norm in competing designs around the world.

Compromise design?

VLO aspects of F-35 will not be matched and/or topped by competing designs anytime soon.

To give you some perspective:

South Korean company KAI have access to impressive technologies and tooling processes and it managed to develop Block 1 of K-FX at an impressive pace. Even with these perks on hand, TAI will not be able to match F-35 until Block 3.

The image also indicates how difficult it is to make an aircraft VLO in true sense of the word. There are numerous technical considerations which are not visible on the surface.

Turkish company TAI will be able to demonstrate a prototype around 2025 - 2026 time frame. Design-related maturity is expected around 2030 time frame. Too early to tell how good this design will be.

Chinese company Shenyang demonstrated 1st prototype of J-31 on 2012; much earlier head start than both KAI and TAI and only 3 prototypes to show thus far. Third prototype is better than earlier designs (looks good) but comparisons with F-35 are premature once again.

Americans are improving F-35 as well; Block 4 is on the horizon.

Americans are developing stealthy aircraft since 1960s. They have significant R&D infrastructure in place to create benchmarks and push boundaries in this theme. Americans are already experimenting with 6th generation technologies.