Blue Marlin
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that all being true and all but what about twin engined jets that are not that thirsty jets like the eft, rafale and f18. compare that to the su30/35 its a winner as i recall you were on the prowl for some new birds in 2004 ish resulting in the f16 blk52+ and 36 being built but in 2005 there was the earthquake which limited funds for them and only resulted in only 18 being purchased. at the time it was the best option as you had comonality with the bird since the 80's so it made sense. now india is purchasing the rafale [ which would have been prefered over the blk 52] leaving your prime blk 52's in deep doo doo heck their mk2 and mig 29's [the upgraded ones] will give your f16s a run for its money.Thats makes my day....
During my service I met many air force guys and what I understand from them we can't afford or we don't need twin engine jets...reasons they stated Single engine half fuel, half maintenance cost and much cheaper to operate.
most importantly if we go for SU-35 we need to build whole support infrastructure, light maintenance facilities, crew training (in Russia) which would be a lot of burden on PAF and it may takes years to fully independently operates these Jets with our choice of weapons.
India is not digesting F-16 sale would they let Russians to sell latest Jets to Pakistan. I don't think so.
i only see the j31 being inducted after 2020. i doubt you can afford to have an interm jet to fill the gap. the only bird there is is the typhoon but thats way more expensive than the rafale so it will continue to be a poster on the wall maybe a scale model too.