They would be used to hit armour – large fields of armour – huge formations along plains and deserts, engaging at the borders. A simple TOW like weapon would be suitable for such an endeavor.

lol…how would you use a wire guided anti tank missile from a fixed wing CAS aircraft?

The idea is for a CAS anti-armor aircraft for conventional warfare (with anti-tank missiles) and it is not for the PAF but the Pakistan Army Aviation (think of these as hand-me-downs). There is an entire rebuild factory (called F-6 Rebuild Factory) in Pakistan that can rebuild these.

Pakistan does not have the finances to buy a dedicated CAS platform and India is now going to field Apaches.

This entire thread is rather moot. The A-5 has been removed from PAF service. Most of the airframes have/will be scrapped, sold as spares (most likely to Burma and/or Bangladesh) or converted to gate guardians. The Pak army has never really shown any interest in operating fixed wing aircraft, least of all something like the A-5, which had a rather mixed history even with the PAF. Besides, how would operating a very outdated Mig-19 variant counter the small number of Apaches the indians will acquire? How are the 2 related? Furthermore, what anti-tank missile do you envisage this mythical A-5 to use? The PAF don’t have any anti-tank/armour missiles in its inventory, certainly nothing like the Brimstone. Any future CAS is most likely to be performed by the JF-17, or variant thereof. The PAF has not shown any significant interest on replacing the A-5 with another dedicated CAS platform similar to the A-10 or SU-25.

I don’t think you’ve really thought this through in the context you’re referring to.

As for load out I think there is more logic carrying a missile under one wing and a fuel tank under the other.

Wouldn’t that be rather unsymmetrical in terms of aerodynamics? Not to mention any diferrences in weight and having 1 less missile?

Although the PAF seems well stocked for long range stand-off weapons, such as the Ra’ad ALCM and the H-1/H-2 series of PGMs, would it be possible to adapt the YJ-83 and/or C-802a for land attack?

My other question is people are discussing the China front a lot and forgetting about Pakistan.

Those Block 52s armed with AMRAAM C-5 & JHMCS (No aim 9x as of yet yay) are no slouches. I am especially worried about the Rafale going against it, for at present the Rafale has shorter range AAMs, no HMD etc. And the Greeks did not consider it to be that better than F 16 in dog fights, as per ASPIS the score was 2-2.

Another worry includes Pakistani claims that they ate the Typhoon for breakfast in a recent exercise 😮

I wouldn’t worry about those claims lol.

Due to the historical lack of BVR capability, the PAF has had to focus on WVR engagements and reduce the BVR engagement envelope as quickly as possible. If those recent claims are true, I’m not saying they are, but IF they are true, the results with the Typhoons may have been due to the excercise RoE, i.e. only WVR engagement and the absence of BVR, where the PAF should perform well.

I don’t really think the IAF is concerned too much about the very modest modernisation in the PAF, which has been limited to only a squadron worth of new F-16s and upgrade of the rest. The JF-17 is still rather imature and the current avionics/radar suite is unlikely to make a significant impact in the greater scheme of things. It’s clear the IAF’s main focus in term of MRCA and the scope of other future projects is primarily China-centric.

Whats the reasoning behind the land based version being cold-launched?

Most likely due to the lighter wieght steel and other materials used for the land based varient canisters, which can not withstand the hot exhaust gases. The use of lighter materials makes it easier to transport on land. No such issues with the naval varient. Just my guess.

Strange report, it sounded like it was on CBBC Newsround!

LOL! 😀 Yeh, it does sound like that, I think it was originally an ITN News story;

http://www.youtube.com/user/itnnews?blend=7&ob=5#p/search/1/21sfrzyHlAM

…and the news reader does sound like Kate Sanderson, I think she was the Newsround presenter the last time I was young enough to watch it!

http://russianplanes.net/images/to58000/057568.jpg

Also, D-18T.

LOL!!! that’s one way of recycling old tires…