PAF J-35AE - News, Updates and Discussions

[Signalian]

To me, it would make sense to pause the J-10CE, go real big on the J-35AE and more JF17CE and sell off the 20 units of the J10CE to another operator - in my view of course. The J10CE is an odd ball relative to where we want the PAF to go and the J-35AE can do everything the J10CE can do, and alot lot more on top ... The PAF had to do an emergency buy of the J10CE to offset the Rafale, and I suspect PAF would have preferred to have waited for the J-35AE instead if it could.

sell J-10 ? and get J-35 ?

Could you go in depth for this.

 

[Signalian]

Grounding the Mirages now would leave real gaps in strike and reconnaissance.

what if strike and reconnaissance role is given to drones and LMs?

 

[Signalian]

It took 2 Mirages with 2 pilots + 2 WSO's to deliver one precision missile during the 2019 conflict with India and that still required "Line of sight control" putting at risk a Mirage + 2 officers at risk that had to fly a high mission profile guiding the missile to its target.

Now, a JF17 alone can deliver 2 precision cruise missiles on its own with just 1 pilot in a standoff manner...

The Mirages cannot generate the mission rate that the JF17 can, at the lower cost that a JF17 can...

Mirages are old, and will tire easily given the maintenance issues relative to their age. They need to be replaced with JF17s asap.

Another view to look at it is how the strike sorties of future would look.

Decoy drones to saturate/overwhelm/or blind enemy AD, followed by LMs or UCAVs, followed by JFTs who either control the UCAVs/LMs or have strike profiles of their own depending on their loadouts.

 

[Cipher212]

It took 2 Mirages with 2 pilots + 2 WSO's to deliver one precision missile during the 2019 conflict with India and that still required "Line of sight control" putting at risk a Mirage + 2 officers at risk that had to fly a high mission profile guiding the missile to its target.

Now, a JF17 alone can deliver 2 precision cruise missiles on its own with just 1 pilot in a standoff manner...

The Mirages cannot generate the mission rate that the JF17 can, at the lower cost that a JF17 can...

Mirages are old, and will tire easily given the maintenance issues relative to their age. They need to be replaced with JF17s asap.

I think PAF understands this and they are already slated for replacement, just like anything else in PAF inventory. Some more urgent than others.

But if something were to happen right now and things were serious. Then you use everything you have. If you have even a single Mirage squadron sitting around with Mirage pilots, you send them in. Regardless of whether their chances of being successful is less than JF, J-10, J-35.

Plus I get the feeling that Sidhu being a Mirage driver has a soft spot for these aircraft and will try to hold onto them a bit longer.

 

[Blain2]

To me, it would make sense to pause the J-10CE, go real big on the J-35AE and more JF17CE and sell off the 20 units of the J10CE to another operator - in my view of course. The J10CE is an odd ball relative to where we want the PAF to go and the J-35AE can do everything the J10CE can do, and alot lot more on top ... The PAF had to do an emergency buy of the J10CE to offset the Rafale, and I suspect PAF would have preferred to have waited for the J-35AE instead if it could.

Keep in mind that J-10C is operationalized in the Air Force's employment strategy. This is not a minor thing. As we all know, it takes years to have that in place, tested, exercised etc. J-10C has gone through all these evolutions since their induction. From what I have heard, Pakistan has a need for upwards of 3 sqns (60 or so) to maintain an effective deterrence against the IAF's Rafale fleet.

J-35s will have to go through their own induction and the time it takes to get the employment right, and it will be very different than that of the J-10s. J-10s give us the long stick to stay at stand-off and deter the other side. J-35s may not even need the long-stick to carry out offensive air ops in the adversary's airspace.

If Pakistan is left with J-35s, J-10C, and JF-17s, that isn't all that bad with 3 types.