A M Qureshi said:
AOA,
To Sid,
You are talking about NATIONAL INTEREST, tell me one thing, is it our national interest to call Americans for help every time?
Yes, it is. You either call the Americans or the Chinese, varying from situation to situation and the degree of leverage they can provide to the Pakistani cause as Pakistan simply isn't strong enough in the international arena to pick one side and expect everyone else to jump the bandwagon!
A M Qureshi said:
when we need them they did not help us in 1971 war and here our leaders were looking for them when they arrive and when they launch their attack against India, offcourse they arrive but after that black day of our history. Is it NATIONAL INTEREST in ur opinion.
It was national interest that made Pakistan align itself with the US early on and it was US' national interest to not intervene in East Pakistan since West Pakistan was much more dear to the US' geopolitical strategy in the South Asia. Which is why the Americans DID put their foot down and made it VERY CLEAR to the Indians that West Pakistan's
sovereignty should be preserved. Once again, its all about national interest.
A M Qureshi said:
Now about my view of AIRFORCE, MIRRAGEs are not attack jets but for the purpose of bombarment and reconicense
So? Who ever said that you need more than two types of combat aircraft? The currect structure is pretty good. You have one type of aircraft as the frontline fighters, the second for holding out and air-supremacy denial while the third for reconnaisance and maritime role.
A M Qureshi said:
... and in combat we can use them as attack jets, F-7s and F-16s are attack jets.
Ever heard of 'multi-role aircraft'? That should solve some of the confusions you're having.
A M Qureshi said:
Americans are selling us their so called F-16s new ones but restricting us to do not use them beyond LOC otherwise they will jam our electronics. IS THIS KIND OF DEFFENCE DEAL IS IN OUR NATIONAL INTEREST.
I have yet to hear about this. Sounds funny indeed. Surely Americans aren't naive to think that we won't use F-16s against India if need be. The only concern they have is proliferation of their sensitive tech to China and that is why the new F-16s would be coming without their EW suite which would be replaced by a British, French or Swedish one.
Is the deal in national interest still? Sure, what else can we possibly get our hands on that is better than a Block 52 F-16? The only one coming close is Gripen (considering all factors such as price per unit, etc) which has been looked over for now.
The F-16s being negotiated for even without their original EW suites would be far advanced than any aircraft PAF currently has. I'd say we take 'em!