No, because the idea is to give them +1PA (or +1/1 if we want to exaggerate) that is stackable with pavise then in castle age, for a total of +1/2 plus the standard blacksmith upgrades.
So if you give just pavise as a bonus, you just have +1/1, you still lack that +1PA.
But they don’t need a new UT, and the idea is TO CHANGE their late game a bit, by giving them more durable arbalests.
It easy for you and me that we don’t have to implement it in the game, they we don’t have to verify that it’s balanced, that it work without bugs, that most players would accept it.
They shouldn’t make such a radical change if there are other way to help the civ.
I don’t like having a weak UT like huns or mongols, I prefer a decent UT that is useful.
Removing a UT that work just for giving them an useless one doesn’t really make sense in my eyes.
But that’s the purpose, and most aren’t that against the +1/2 arbs in imp.
However, if the majority is against it, that’s why we also came up with the free armor upgrades bonus, which is far from being OP, and more easy to implement since you don’t have to change pavise.
Also, with the new condos changes, people will complain that now it’s too easy to do a fast imp condos rush, that are even stronger than before, while now the castle and the UT act as a buffer.
Before such a change, we should see how the new condos works.