India should start R&D into materials, structures, engines and avionics related to the fifth generation project, dont see the need to fund FGFA though.
We are doing that.
if PLA-AF starts launching offensive strikes deep into India perhaps that could be countered with much cheaper solutions,
LCA and Mig-21 will be our point defence aircraft.
for InAF launching offensive strikes deep into PRC we would need a reason, and i fail to find one, hence i believe the 5th generation program should not be before the threat that requires it.
Deep strikes will cripple their supply lines. Do you expect a hungry and cold PLA soldier to fight in negative temperatures at such high altitudes?
Nonetheless, we will be acquiring the technology well before China does. It gives us a massive air superiority over Pakistan too. Not to mention free access over SE Asia.
How many planes do we need for a defensive posture against Pakistan?
Enough to scare the daylights out of their defence planners.
And is a large scale conflict (in terms of area) possible between India and PRC.
Not now, maybe in the future.
And that is what the force multipliers we are investing in are meant to do, increase the effectiveness of our air forces by giving early warning and command, which sound very useful in a limited war, there will be limited ground support denial, suppression and destruction of air defence, ground attack if no one is in control of the skies.
You underestimate the use of AWACS.
If the defences are to be overpowered by sheer numbers how would a fifth generation plane fare any better than lets say a forth generation plane with good support?
Force multiplier effect. An unseen plane among many enemy planes. A fourth gen plane with support will make warfare more expensive. The support teams need be protected too. Who wants to fight a battle of attrition against China. Kill a lot of them and protect our few.
Well they are doing quite well technologically, it seems better than us, however they are also in the process of developing a forth generation fighter, which shows that the next generation is not going to arrive with in a decade.
The same is true for us too.
I would have agreed if there was a hint of joint development, instead of the current speculation that FGFA will be a customised version of the PAK-FA,
FGFA is a joint development. We will jointly work on avionics, materials and the design itself. The FGFA will be different too. Smaller and more stealthy than the PAKFA.
I do not trust the Russians to pass over the tech without making a huge mess and delaying every plan we might have for using that tech in MCA(and their are plenty of examples).
True. But, by that time, we should be able to design our own avionics and work on our own designs too. We would have atleast 10 years of experience working with the Israelis. We may not even need Israeli help by then.