There are other ways to get the information and people out... label them for civilian usage in case of demilitarization, deal it under the table etc etc...
Thanks for a very informative post as usual.
There was no problem getting licenses for local production of 6TD series, Ukraine is still offering that, it does not make economic sense for Pakistan to spend all the money required on R&D, supply chain, metallurgy, machinery etc that would enable it to produce engines locally because the volume of production is so small. That’s why PA didn’t get TOT for VT4 powertrain either despite Chinas insistence, it would raise per-tank cost by 30-35% as opposed to importing the engines directly from China. I’ve butted heads with HIT enough times over this already and that’s their answer, which in a sense is valid too, as much as I’d like them to bite the bullet and set up local engineer production capabilities, they have a valid point when they say that such capabilities must start from commercial automakers where production volume is higher and trickle down to HIT instead of the other way around
The APS and UAV is an expensive System, we should expect to see it in PA eventually but for now the focus was to get as many tanks as possible to replace older types like Type 59 and 69, if you look at it from that perspective, the decision to forego APS and UAV systems has actually improved overall crew survivability of PA tank crews more than it would have if they had gotten the APS but limited the amount of Haiders.
Haiders is progressing mostly smoothly, indigenous content started from under 5% and is currently at ~40% by production (meaning not local design but at least local production) and 15-20% by parts (local design and production) and is only going to go up.
Why would commercial enterprises take this pill?
Obviously automobile engines aren’t used in tanks, the point HIT engineers were trying to make was that the Machinery, training, expertise & metallurgical processes required to make engines are largely the same irrespective of the size and type of the engine and are the biggest cost in setting up engine production (the licenses are relatively cheap), if commercial automakers can set up engine production plants for automobiles, HIT can place an order to produce a couple of hundred engines from their plants too and that would be an economically feasible way to produce tank engines locally, as opposed to HIT footing the bill for everything and then making a couple of hundred engines from a multi-million dollar investment, there’s no ROI there and would make each Haider significantly more expensive.
PS: it doesn’t have to be commercial automakers in particular either, Pakistan just has no other customers for engines, the company that makes tank engines in India is BEML (state owned), they also make engines for trains, prime movers, heavy cranes, excavators etc to achieve volume, That’s how you make it economically feasible, if HIT could sell engines to such other industries in Pakistan or if these industries could set up engine production, that would also be a way to reduce cost
They sold the same exact car for nearly 15 years by simply changing the plastic bumper shape and color and people still bought it like it was Mon and Salwa. So it's not the like the market even gave incentive.
was it corolla?
The Corolla, The Mehran, the Swift etc.
I am just wondering if a public sector entity (i.e. HIT itself or consortium including railways, NLC, possibly SUPARCO, etc.) possibly in a joint venture with private companies could establish a plants for producing engines for different types (such as for auto cars/trucks, trains, prime movers, heavy cranes, excavators, helicopters, tanks, rockets, etc.) to reap the economies of scale benefits.
