Re: Pakistan to buy $1bn of Attack helicopters, missiles from USA
I suppose it’s time-to-market. Pakistan can invest in the R&D to get a proper aerospace, advanced materials and electronics infrastructure in place, but that would take time. The perceived need is now. In the long run, $1B is cheap vs. trying to build from scratch.
Perhaps there’s a middle road somewhere, and Pakistan has invested and become self sufficient in some areas…like nuclear arms development.
The biggest problem of not having the know-how in-house, though, is you’re always at the mercy of how far world powers are willing to support you in a time of war. Pakistan has tried to make contacts in secondary markets for access to their assets and parts in times of war, (such as Turkey and Saudia), but we don’t know for certain how reliable that is. It also has the nasty effect of pressuring Pakistan to reciprocate in some kind…like fighting a God-forsaken war in Yemen.