Project azm has failed and a new road map is there (NASTP)
I have several questions in my mind.
What we can learn from project Azm 's failure?
What not to repeat in NASTP?or
What not to do while building a base for weapons industry? Or even any other industry?
While i will blame over ambitious aims,overall economic situation of country for it's failure,what you guys think about it?
Write down some comprehensive note on it.
Thanks in advance.
Something to think about:
Once JF-17 Block 3 numbers are produced most of PAC AMF is going to be idle. It is a huge setup and the PAF really really wants it not to sit idle in a couple of years.
A few people (including the airchief at that time) thought the solution to this problem (being a solution to the future fighter problem too) was to develop our own FGFA. I am sorry to say this but these folks were out of touch with reality. There was this other person too that still believes (or at least tells everyone that he does) that FGFA was a realistic goal for PAF.
To develop an aircraft is a herculean task. Remember Pakistan did NOT develop the JF-17, it only manufactures it. It takes a LOT of expertise in engineering and a tonne of huge facilities to develop and certify an aircraft. Its a ridiculously expensive and labour intensive process that no way Pakistan could afford for the JF-17 or any other aircraft.
Then, the design of an aircraft - especially a modern aircraft - is so utterly complex and multidimensional that it takes thousands of experts to even begin a design. Remember, I am only talking about design - not development, which is when you do structural tests and certifications and what not.
Now what did PAF have? A handful of PhDs in aerodynamics and structures maybe. And just because these people have PhDs does not mean that they are the right people. These are PAF officers with PhDs that have gotten PhDs at some points during their careers. Their "real-world" experience is aircraft maintenance of PAF fighters and their overhaul and teaching students at CAE Risalpur. This does NOT qualify them to design and build aircraft. A PhD at lockheed martin who has worked his entire life on F-16s and F-18s design and development is not the same as some PAF PhD teaching undergraduate classes at CAE. What industry do we have to train the workforce for an aircraft program???
So what was Azm? It was a conceptual design. This means that its shape was being finalized with some very very basic ideas of subsystems. Since you can do CFD with computers and dont need much investment or skill, that's all AvRID was doing. CFD and CFD and CFD. And that's all we saw. It looks cool in pictures and videos and the forum was impressed. I told you guys last year that they hadn't done a single wind tunnel test.
And obviously an aircraft is not just aerodynamics. It's structures, it's fuel systems, it's hydraulics, its radars, its ECM, its sensors, its sensor fusion, its electronics, its power electronics, its materials, its composites, its manufacturing design, the list is huge. You need subject matter experts on hundreds of fields and then they need to have teams of their own. Not some PAF Babus with inflated egos because they have PhDs and the sum of their experience is teaching undergraduate courses in Pakistan.
I have seen Azm. I have seen what Azm is right now. Very closely. It would not be too inaccurate to liken it to the Agha Waqar waterkit story. People who were either evil or delusional or both were taking a naive nation on a ride.
If you want to see how you build a fighter aircraft look at Turkish Aerospace. Look how many years they spent developing facilities. Worked on actual aircraft programs like the F-16, A-400M, C-130, S-70. They developed huge facilities for certification. They integrated themselves into international supply chains. PAC Kamra is a joke in front of Turkish Aerospace. PAC Kamra has no relationships with the world and has to smuggle (for lack of a better word) half their inputs. TA spent decades developing skills and manpower in a SUSTAINABLE manner - that is they always had the next 2 or 3 projects lined up for their engineers to work on. They went from strength to strength. They started with Hurkus. We just bought Saab Safari and have done an abysmal amount of work on it considering the time weve had it for. They then worked on Hurjet. We had the K8 and just did nothing with it. Now they are working on TFX and we had the shitshow that was Azm. You can almost make a one-to-one comparison on what to do and what not to do.
Anyway, this rant is long enough already. It's just that "afsos hota hai yaar" - because I'm here picking up the pieces of the practical joke on Pakistan that was Azm.
Guess what the latest thinking is? Remember that issue with the AMF going dormant? Now they are trying by hook and crook to get the TFX to use AMF in some capacity. The good thing about this interaction of PAC and TA is that PAF will realize how outdated they are and how their hubris doesn't align at all with their capacity. I hope PAC gets it what it wants. I don't want it to lose the last chance they have to catch up with the real world.
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