I did write a long thought piece about this in a long gone thread but it is far more complicated then you see it, no offence meant. We need to look at the tactical situation of both air forces before we draw a clear conclusion.
It is correct to point out that at this moment the IAF has a general advantage over the PAF at this point but that wasn’t always the case. Historically the PAF has always been the most effective wing of the Pakistani armed forces with a general technical advantage in equipment through to the 1980’s over the IAF. It wasn’t negligent of the PAF in not having a BVR capability up to the 1980’s they didn’t really need one as their main rival the IAF was also a WVR force. The PAF was mainly a defensive force and the IAF had to come to them to engage them in combat. Unfortunately their main supplier of advanced weapon systems America took away their support and India upgraded to a BVR capability by the 1990’s. China was in no position at the time to provide a suitable BVR missile system.
There was nothing that Pakistan could do about this situation in the short term; this is the main reason for the pushing of the JF-17 program. In the late 90’s it was the only project on the table that might give the PAF a BVR capability. Of course the situation has changed now and AMRAAM is on the table along with an AEW capability. Whilst the PAF is waiting for these new capabilities their main combat tactic at the moment is to avoid any BVR missile volley and get to the merge.
Certainly within the PAF high command I would expect a certain degree of realism, they know they are not a match for the IAF at the moment they just don’t have the capability to truly penetrate Indian air space to any degree. The main roll of the PAF is to defend their air space and act as a deterrent. There plans would be to cause enough damage to give the Indian government pause for thought or even allow time for deployment of nuclear weapons.
For the IAF we often see in the context of the rivalry with Pakistan but they have other problems strategically. Namely China that has an ever growing regional presence with a virtually bottomless defence budget, Indian defence procurement has to be in the context of balancing China’s power in the region. In relation to Pakistan both countries operate under the concept of MAD with both sides capable of some kind of nuclear response.
Well these are my thoughts on the matter.
Would love to see that piece you are talking about. Do post it. Also:
1. What do you think of my model?
2. What do you think of the mechanics behind a quantitative analysis of air combat?
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