The recent deal to acquire the Dassault Rafale by the IAF is aimed squarely at the PAF.

This is because the PAF continues to be supplied with F-16 jets by the US even though Washington is trying so hard to court the IAF. It is clear the US wants to play ball with the two sides. The big reason is the US simply does not want to be absent from the region. The US wants to meddle in every twist and turn that is taking place today in south Asia. The Rafale is suitable for confronting the PAF. For now. The Dassault-made jet is more than a match for the F-16 Fighting Falcon. It is also competitive against the JF-17 Thunder. But in future the PAF could get its hands on the J-10 or J-11 and that will be a totally different story. Unlike the Eurofighter the Dassault product has less sprint but on the other hand has more sustained turning ability. This might be good for ground attack missions but not for tangling with air superiority fighters. One air commander boasted that the jet he flew in could turn like a helicopter. That is good if you are aborting a planned ground attack sortie after jettisoning your external loads like iron bomb clusters. But not good if a missile happens to be homing in on your flaring infrared signal a.ka. exhaust pipe or exhaust trail. Also at the moment, the PAF does not have or possess missile batteries like the US Patriot PAC-3 or the Russian S-400 or the HQ-9. The Dassault Rafale would not be much effective against a foe that has (extensively) deployed such powerful defence systems. During the 1991 Gulf war, the US Patriot system brought down almost everything it targeted including friendly aircraft. So, the Rafale cannot hope for a good or different outcome against such systems. For a related article read http://www.scribd.com/doc/81572671 about purchases of advanced western fighter aircraft by nearby countries.