Asian Defense News: Dec 24, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Asian Defense News: Pakistan inducts its 1st squadron of JF-17 Thunder fighters

The Pakistani air force is gearing up for a major expansion of its JF-17 single-engine fighter force.

The service just began taking delivery of the first batch of Chengdu FC-1/JF-17s (now produced in Pakistan) this year, with about half of the 42 ordered now in place. With one squadron operational, service officials now plan to set up a second unit.

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What’s more, the Pakistani government hopes to order a second batch of 50 fighters next year, says Air Commo.Junaid, who is involved in the JF-17 project. Pakistan is looking for enhanced features on the second batch, although the exact requirements have not been spelled out.

Both South African and French companies have shown interest in updating the JF-17’s avionics and weapons package. After looking at new candidates, the preferred option appears to be staying with Chinese suppliers, Pakistani officials suggest.

Despite the interest in enhancement, Junaid notes that the avionics package fielded on the baseline JF-17 has been one of the positive surprises. They have performed “better than expected,” he says, and pilot transition to the new aircraft has proceeded smoothly. And operations in the high mountain regions have not posed a problem, he asserts.

Fleet development is still at a relatively early stage, though. The focus so far has been on familiarizing pilots and maintenance crew with the new equipment. Preparations are underway to fully qualify crews for air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. Full operational capability is not far off, Junaid notes, adding that progress is much better than when the air force introduced its F-16A/B Block 15s in the early 1980s.

In parallel, the service has been taking delivery of the newest batch of Lockheed Martin F-16s in the Block 52 configuration. The last of these aircraft were delivered to the Shahbaz Air Base on Dec. 13. The air force has fielded 12 F-16Cs and six F-16Ds under the so-called Peace Drive I program.

The Pakistani air force argues that the precision strike features of the latest F-16s is bolstering operations in the contested border region with Afghanistan, such as South Waziristan, and the federally administered tribal areas.

The service also is awaiting completion of the ZDK-03 airborne early warning aircraft, which was rolled out last month at Hanzhong, China. The 2008 contract calls for delivery of four systems.

Meanwhile, fielding all the equipment is forcing the service to rethink its operational concepts, particularly regarding how to employ the various new tools in an integrated fashion, Junaid says.

Pakistan also continues to work on enhancing its unmanned aircraft inventory. It is already operating the Italian Selex Galileo Falco, but Italy has apparently been reluctant to allow the arming of that UAV. As a result, Pakistan is now acquiring armed CH-3s from China, which are still in development.

By Robert Wall
London Dec 24, 2010

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan TODAY December 24, 2010 - Militants Launch Coordinated Attacks In Pakistan

Asian Defense News: DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Pakistan TODAY December 24, 2010 - Militants Launch Coordinated Attacks In Pakistan

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Ismail Khan The New York Times

(NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - December 24, 2010: Eleven members of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps were killed and nine were wounded on Friday when about 150 militants launched simultaneous attacks on five security posts in the northwestern Mohmand tribal region close to the Afghan border, a senior security official said.

*Photo: Courtesy AP Photo

The official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that the security forces had received a tip about an impending assault, “but frankly, we didn’t expect an attack of this scale and magnitude.”

He said that 24 militants were killed in the clashes that went on for several hours but displayed the bodies of only eight militants to the local media. “Our assessment is based on militants’ intercepts and chatter,” the official said.

The simultaneous attacks, in the Baizai area close to the Afghan border, were the biggest since Pakistani forces launched operations in the lawless tribal regions along the border.

A government official said that militants in the Mohmand region, a mountainous, heavily forested area with easy escape routes to Afghanistan, have largely been confined to a small area that adjoins Pakistan’s Bajaur tribal area and Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar Province. The strategic location makes it relatively easy for militants to organize.

“All the bad guys are now there,” Amjad Ali Khan, the administrator of the Mohmand region, said. “Kunar’s border region has gone to the dogs due to the absence of international forces there. These guys go there and come back to launch attacks on our forward positions.”

Officials said that the authorities had planned an operation to flush out militants from the remaining pockets of Mohmand but lack of resources caused a delay.

“Action will get under way shortly,” Mr. Khan said.

On Dec. 6, suicide bombers struck the administrative headquarters of Mohmand, killing 43 people and wounding more than 60.