One look at the issues Malaysia and India has had with maintaining there Russian fighters makes that seem questionable.
Not really, F16 is considered a light fighter, it's single engine makes it far more budget friendly. Neither Flanker or Fulcrum have achieved the same popularity of buys or low cost of maintenance.
Actually that's the norm. If you as a nation but weapons from Russia then go and pick a fight with another Russian client state you can expect to be frozen out of support and buys. That's the way the world works. You can say the US is "unpredictable" but that's mostly because the US Pakistani relationship is fluid. Sometimes US Pak relations are good sometimes otherwise.
It's done a fair job but then again a turbo prop with bombs would have done just as well in Syria. As there is almost no actual air to air battle. The Su35 has been strike bombing. That's not to say there have not been air to air battles but Flankers have not been part of that.
... blah blah... look the sanctions are not so uber effective as to force Russia to drop Pak Fa, Armata and Proton (rocket) What is mostly happened is that the Russian Federation has been dependent on 2 sources of income. Oil and Arms sales.
With changes in the oil market, being dependent on it as the single source of funding is not a viable option.
Factor in expensive military operations in Syria and Ukraine and the Russian Military has to tighten its belt. It means that they were going to have to give up on some ambitions for sometime and SU57 and T14 happened were more than they could afford.
Whatever problems Malaysia has with regards to the serviceability of its Russian made combat aircraft, is entirely dependent on their own circumstances and ability to negotiate a deal beneficial to them. I am sure they are very capable of succeeding in this endeavor. For there are many countries which operate Russian aircraft and they don't face same problems as the Malays or indians do.
F-16s are a fine combat aircraft, no doubt. But being a fine aircraft, does not mean a country compromises on its freedom and independence in foreign policy. Nor does it mean, that upon purchasing this aircraft, a country is subjected to "Mafia" style blackmail. You can keep your F-16s, if that's the case, thank you.
Pakistan will choose its combat aircraft, depending on their own requirements, their monetary health and strategic stability. Pakistan does not make deals based on pure quality and superiority. Pakistan is not like Japan, Arabia or Qatar. Nor would Pakistan want to follow the footsteps of these countries, even if Pakistan will have wealth comparable to Japan, Arabia or Qatar. Having money does not mean your foresight and logic is thrown out the window.
