Ultimately, the PAF wants its mainstay fighters to have AESA radars. As additional J-10CEs get inducted, JF-17 Block-2s get upgraded, and NGFAs are sought, it would be a severe utilization of resources to not have at least the Block-52s up to par. The F-16V + AIM-120C8 opens

Agreed with the sentiment, but you can swap in literally anything and everything about Pakistan and this exact statement would make sense... "Reviving economy in Pakistan requires comprehensive structural reforms..." "Reviving education in Pakistan requires comprehensive

India already has a world-class air defence set up, but its next wave of programs (esp indigenous SRSAM etc for low level coverages) will make it exponentially difficult to enter its air space. That said, even though the blueprint of how to do it is there, Pak doesn't have the

This is an important analysis of the air war in Ukraine, highlighting how Russia is road-testing a model of attritional warfare with direct implications for a potential NATO conflict. Central to this model is a deep economic imbalance. The cost of Russian attack platforms (e.g.,

In our latest Defence Uncut episode, we unpacked the reports of the Indian Air Force (IAF) pushing for 114 more Rafales. This isn't just another procurement; it represents a strategic consolidation that poses a systemic, and worrying, challenge to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

IMO we're overplaying India's challenges here. The US has always wanted to work with India -- and still does -- but India's elites prefer their autonomy. That's what drives them to build world-class STEM institutions, cutting-edge R&D, and industrial growth, esp. in advanced

I agree with this, but I'd also add that the US encouraged the SDMA so as to pull Pakistan's focus to its literal west -- i.e., Afghanistan, Gulf, etc. The big powers (UK, then US) wanted Pak to focus on its west, either to curb the USSR's influence or to free India to focus on

But Pak will have to, again (as generally expected from its inception) focus more to looking west, e.g., the Gulf security, Afghanistan, etc. in return. However, it would be conditional on Pak not using any perceived gains to pull another Gibraltar (destabilizing act).

And that is the probable issue the US has right now because India's actions could've thrown South Asia into disarray. So, at this stage, the US might see the need to imbue Pak with more capability to deter something like May 2025 in the future.

It took time, but Pakistan eventually got the memo and pulled that stuff back up to a level the US was fine with (as evidenced from the withdrawal talks between the US and Taliban). However, on May 2025, India went and showed the US it was going to destabilize the region.

Pakistan-backed insurgencies were a problem for the US from that standpoint as it rendered Kashmir into a conflict zone, one that distracted India (from focusing on China) and made Pak intelligence a threat if these entities spread further.

Terrorism in itself wasn't the issue for the US, it was instability, and not instability in the normative sense, but in the context of keeping things cool around the world so that the US could focus on China.

Setting aside the #Tejas, this expertise flows into other areas, like the fact LM collabs with TASL to manufacture F-16 aero-structures in India (without the IAF buying a single goddamn F-16).

We Pakistanis have a bad habit of not studying the foe in earnest to *understand* what's happening. Tejas had its issues, sure; but #India can speak to indigenous flight control tech, composites, aircraft-grade alloys, and an evolution in original design.

The #PakistanAirForce has an HPM requirement (since 2024 or so), so we unpack how it might pursue it. The goal is likely to address #drone swarming threats. https://t.co/QyHMQrukeQ

Without getting into whether the radar was hit or not, the story is that India will move its assets well ahead of a Pak strike. Pak ISTAR needs to move quicker & update on the fly. Hence the focus on InSAR constellation. BDA also key, not just for receipts, but to ensure a hit.