Oh my God this means our AWACS are literally sitting ducks! Even Netra Mk2 will be under tremendous threat! @Parthu is there any way AWACS can mitigate this, like say 600 km scan and tracking?
Pakistan AirForce : Updates & Discussions
- Thread starter Ashwin
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The Indian A330 AWACS-India will provide such a range. It's more about the size of the array.
Using the Indian box design, while others are stuck with 9 m arrays facing one side at a time with triangle designs like Phalcon, 2 arrays can combine to act as a single system providing an array length of 14 m.
Resident experts by when do you think Pakistan will start receiving their J35s?
Solution is two fold . One of which is to build long range radars like what you specified atop the AWACS. The other is to develop Brahmos AAM . BAPL did approach IAF with this proposal long ago which IAF in their wisdom rejected.
Whatever may have been the case then , Brahmos NG will be due for testing shortly. Use that as a template to develop a Mach 4 AAM with a range of 600 kms in a top secret project. Doable ? Of course yes. Will be do it ? Of course no !
Ideally we initiate the project immediately , fast track testing & induction & get 500-1000 nos of this ASAP. Assuming 4 million USD / piece , works out to 2 billion USD. Satisfies all parameters be it technology wise , feasibility wise , budget wise & whatever other parameters you can think of .
2028-29 if everything goes well for them. Though, it depends on lots of things. Like geopolitics play a part in this as well. China might not like revival of bond between Pakistan & USA. I mean nothing stops Pakistan to sell secret of J-35 to America. Although they might still get it, there could be delays due to technical, logistical & geopolitical factors.
I think China will still give J35 to Pakistan but if Pakistan keeps going closer to US camp, they will give a highly degraded version, with lower stealth and different avionics than what the PLAN will be getting, and they will probably give them PL15E instead of the real deal PL15 to go with them.
Who knows maybe China will give them a version which is actually closer to FC31 than J35 even lol.
The author's source is eurasiantimes, a not always reliable newspaper, which quotes Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif in a television interview which i have not seen.
turdef.com
Pakistan Reportedly Backs out Of J-35 Fighter Jet Deal | TURDEF
Pakistan’s refusal to procure China’s J-35 raises new questions over the aircraft’s performance and the state of Beijing-Islamabad military ties.
turdef.com
The author's source is eurasiantimes, a not always reliable newspaper, which quotes Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif in a television interview which i have not seen.
Pakistan Reportedly Backs out Of J-35 Fighter Jet Deal | TURDEF
Pakistan’s refusal to procure China’s J-35 raises new questions over the aircraft’s performance and the state of Beijing-Islamabad military ties.
A conditional US guarantee of safety perhaps made them reconsider.
Stealth aircraft are very very hard to maintain. The US formula of hangar queens costing a king's ransom to maintain does not work for everyone
J-35 is "inspired" from F-35.
F-35 is no where near the 80% availability rate
Its RAM coatings can be damaged from exposure to high temperature
The aircraft is extremely complex to maintain - see the one in Kerala
F-35B is limited to no more than 80 secs of afterburner and then need a cooldown period
F-35C is limited to no more than 50 secs of afterburner and then need a cooldown period
J-35 which is a copy will inherit most of these problems.
Paks need a present day equivalent of the F-16, reasonable maintenance, high availability and unchallenged performance. Stealth aircraft dont fit the bill anywhere.
How does it compare with LCH in terms of MAWS, DIRCM, and antitank missile weapons integration?
A detailed video from Pakistani YouTuber on Z10 ME specification details.
MAWS and DIRCM have not yet been integrated with LCH. There were a few tenders for these from HAL. Production versions will hopefully include these.
This bird wasn't their first choice. It was the AH-1Z and the Turkish T129. With the current US-Pak reset, at least T129 (which uses US LHTEC engines) could be back on the table.
Apart from issues related to downtime and maintenance, as a weapons delivery platform, it is a good product for the price you pay.
Reportedly, the vanilla Z-10 is sluggish at high altitudes which is why the Chinese came up with the uprated (but relatively untested) ME version. Though I suspect the Pakistanis want the much lighter T129 (+ carries in service atgms) as a counter to LCH over the mountains.
Nobody is paying attention to these factors. Not everyone can afford to buy and maintain stealth aircrafts. These tend to have operational costs that can send shivers down the spine of any bureaucrat. Countries that do tend to invest in them should be aware of exactly how much money they will end up pouring into them over a decade or more. Long term costs associated with them is an aspect that receives zero attention.
Add JF-17 Block-1 and initial Block-2 batches. That's almost 250 fighter jets that will be retired or at end of their lifecycles in next 10 years.
Also, their 4 IL-78s will be 5 decades old by then. Most of their 18 C-130s will be the age of their grandpas. Nearly 200 of their trainer aircrafts would be obsolete. Their DA-20 EW aircraft would be 5 decades old by then.
Then comes their army aviation... their 50 Cobra gunships nearly retired. Dozens of Mi-17s will be 4 decades old. 6 + 10 of their UH-1s and Bell 204s well over 6 decades old. 30 of their utility helicopters (Alouettes and Lamas) will be 6 decades old then. 25 Schweizer-300 will be 4 decades old and 20 Bell Jetrangers will also be 6 decades old. Apart from that maybe 100+ Mushshak trainers they operate will also be 5-6 decades old.
Their Naval aviation... with 6 P-3C Orions, 7 Alouettes and 23 Sea Kings on verge of retirement with Z-9s also 2-3 decades old by then.
I wonder how will they be replacing all these museum pieces, coz limiting sortie rates to conserve airframe lives are almost as good as not having them. That's majority of their entire fleet.
Also, their 4 IL-78s will be 5 decades old by then. Most of their 18 C-130s will be the age of their grandpas. Nearly 200 of their trainer aircrafts would be obsolete. Their DA-20 EW aircraft would be 5 decades old by then.
Then comes their army aviation... their 50 Cobra gunships nearly retired. Dozens of Mi-17s will be 4 decades old. 6 + 10 of their UH-1s and Bell 204s well over 6 decades old. 30 of their utility helicopters (Alouettes and Lamas) will be 6 decades old then. 25 Schweizer-300 will be 4 decades old and 20 Bell Jetrangers will also be 6 decades old. Apart from that maybe 100+ Mushshak trainers they operate will also be 5-6 decades old.
Their Naval aviation... with 6 P-3C Orions, 7 Alouettes and 23 Sea Kings on verge of retirement with Z-9s also 2-3 decades old by then.
I wonder how will they be replacing all these museum pieces, coz limiting sortie rates to conserve airframe lives are almost as good as not having them. That's majority of their entire fleet.
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