PAF may choose to equip the darter which will enter service in 2011 with South Africa.
Yeah ok more fantasy I see
IAF may just buy 200 Typhoons with metore BVR missles
or 200 F18 SUPER HORNETS with Amraam C7s
IAF may even field 250 FGFA PAK FA.
" PLEASE DON,T GIVE MAYBE, WILL HAPPEN,, IS NEGOTIATING ,, IS EVALUATING,,,
Give some hard facts.
like
42 basic Thunders with chinease radar KLJ7 & SD10 missle on soft loans of 650m dollars by 2013.
18 F16/52 frm USA with grant aid money.
So does a JF-17 on soft loan or an F-16 on military funding from US under perform as opposed to ones bought on hard cash?
Once the birds are in the sky it does not matter how they were paid for...
With more than a 100 Su-30 MKIs in service, clearly it is a very mature platform and so a lot of data is available on it.
On the other hand JF-17 has just been inducted and roadmap is not finalized for next 5-10 years regarding the upgrades so we have to wait and see.
Certainly without AEW&C cover the MKI has an advantage of Radar Range over the current thunders in BVR engagement but the smaller RCS of JF-17 will offset this advantage a little (only a little though).
With induction of AEW&C platforms, this advantage will be mitigated.
I will not talk about close in dog fight since Su-30 is a highly agile and maneuverable aircraft but JF-17's actual Thrust and agility parameters are not yet fully declared.
However as per feedback Thunder has so far impressed many in an air force with highest standards and which operate the most agile version of F-16; i think JF-17 may be a real surprise package in a dog fight.
The advantages of JF-17 in being an easy to maintain and operate
modern multirole platform will be a tremendous boost for PAF no matter what is on the other side of the border.
This profile cannot be compared to SU-30 which is not an easy to maintain small multirole fighter and is not capable of operating from highways and small low profile airfields.
Keeping in mind that Thunder will be the backbone of PAF, it is a tremendous leap forward in terms of capability. With an array of modern weapons and other upgrades planned, it will only be more and more dangerous.
In a battlefield scenario i frankly do not see one on one duels without radar cover and many other factors which take the simplicity away from the analysis, so i think the overall profile of JF-17 suits PAF really well when faced with an opponent like IAF.
It will be a major headache for IAF, just as Su-30 will be one for PAF.
However those who think that during a war, Su-30 will walk all over JF-17 are assuming too much too early and without seeing JF-17 in action.
Also with this past decade of extreme disparity in mind, this project will only reduce the disparity so its net impact will be extremely positive as far as PAF is concerned.
The underdog always has a surprise up its sleeve, i guess it is good to be the underdog.