Text/Fat Eggplant
On the opposite side, the Indian Air Force has been making crazy "big purchases" in recent years, and the Pakistanis can't sit still.
According to the global network quoted by API News Network on June 5, seeing the Indian Air Force becoming increasingly powerful, India's old rival Pakistan is not to be outdone, and recently launched its own "air force modernization process". And the first thing they have to do is to drastically "cut" more than 250 old fighters, and select the "future main force" of their own air force, considering the deteriorating relationship between the United States and Pakistan, China is expected to obtain a "super big order" for the upgrading of the Pakistan Air Force, while the United States is basically certain to lose this big deal.
(The Pakistani Air Force still has many old fighters)
According to sources, the first thing Pakistan will "cut" this time is the old French-made fighters - about 135 Mirage 3 and 139 Mirage 5 fighters.
Although Pakistan carried out a round of "strike unit upgrade" (ROSE) for these fighters with the support of France in the nineties, this still does not change the fact that they are already old: the Mirage 3 first flew in 1956, while the Mirage 5 was in 1967, both models can be called "antiques" of jet fighters. Since these fighters can no longer meet the operational needs and the maintenance cost is high, the Pakistani Air Force can only choose to let the French fighters bid farewell to the battle sequence.
(The Mirage fighter is one of the main forces of the Pakistani Air Force)
In addition, the 50 F-7PG fighters imported by Pakistan from China will also face retirement. This is not because of its old airframe, but because its design is still based on the heavily outdated MiG-21, which is essentially a "second-generation semi-improved fighter" like the Mirage 3.
You know, these fighters add up to almost half of the Pakistani Air Force fighter team, and the Mirage fighter has previously been the pillar of the Pakistani Air Force's "air nuclear strike", responsible for carrying nuclear bombs and nuclear cruise missiles. Once these fighters are retired, which fighter is qualified to replace them and become the "pillar of a new generation of strategic air force" of the Pakistani Air Force?
(Dragon Block 3)
Although some Indian media believe that the United States may continue to provide F-16 fighters to Pakistan in exchange for Pakistan's support in South Asian geopolitics, it is clear that Pakistan does not believe that - Pakistani sources said that in the future, the military plans to purchase at least 186 JF-17 "Thunder Dragon" block3 fighters to replace the Mirage series of fighters and become the "absolute main force" of the Pakistani Air Force.
In addition, the Pakistani military is also particularly satisfied with the J-10CE fighters of the squadron previously purchased, and intends to purchase 2-3 squadrons and about 40-60 J-10CE fighters to form a "high and low match" with the "Thunder Dragon" to realize the modernization of its own air force. In addition, Indian media also revealed that China's fifth-generation fighters are also on the potential procurement list of the Pakistan Air Force, and the Pakistani military is currently comparing with Turkey's fifth-generation aircraft project.
(Pakistani Air Force welcomes J-10CE to be listed)
This is a very important signal: this means that in the future, the Pakistani military will completely "marginalize" American-made fighters, do not engage in "simultaneous procurement of Chinese and US fighters to check and balance each other", let alone invest too many additional resources in it, and Chinese fighters will become the "absolute core" of the Pakistani military fleet - of course, this is actually foreshadowed. In the brochure leaked by the Embraer complex, it is clearly mentioned that the JF-17Block3 fighter "can carry Ra'ad-II cruise missiles", and the missile can carry nuclear warheads, which is one of the most advanced long-range nuclear strike methods of the Pakistani Air Force. It can be seen that as early as its research and development process, the Pakistani military has already thought about making the dragon the core pillar of the future of the Pakistani Air Force.
(Thunder Dragon launches cruise missile)
Of course, from a technical point of view, the Thunder Dragon Block 3 does have advantages, whether it is active phased array radar or hybrid fly-by-wire control, which makes this fighter have a "four-and-a-half-generation" level of fighters, far from the old F-16 and Mirage fighters comparable. But more importantly, the incident once again highlighted the deep friendship between China and Pakistan. Pakistan's trust in China's weapons is an important manifestation of Pakistan's "geopolitical strategic trust" in China - otherwise, a country would never be confident to put its own strategic nuclear weapons on the fighters jointly developed with other countries.