I was just checking out BK and i really think we need a forum for Military info board.
Here is something cool and bad.
More help from the chinese and not the west.
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G-7 sanctions retard Super-7 project
ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is on the verge of downgrading the specifications
for its next-generation multi-role combat aircraft, the Super-7, because of the Group of
Seven's enforcement of an informal ban on weapons sales since last year's military take-over,
a ranking PAF source said Thursday. "We will soon reach the point where we may be forced to
take a decision to adopt a Chinese avionics suite, instead of the more advanced technology
we had hoped to procure from the West," he told The Nation.
"Air Command has already been instructed to draw up alternate plans," he said. The political
fall-out of the G-7 sanctions is also expected to upset the development schedule of the
Super-7, delaying delivery of the first prototype beyond its 2003 deadline, the PAF source
said. The revelation comes a week after India sealed a contract with Russia for the supply of
140 Sukhoi Su-30 Mk1 fighters, along with a complete transfer of technology and production
licence. The combination of India's latest acquisitions and the downgrading of the Super-7's
technology are a major blow to the PAF, which has been seeking to re-establish a qualitative
edge over its Indian counterpart and expected the new combat plane to fulfil about 70 per
cent of its future operational requirements.
The hi-tech version of the Super-7 was viewed as the ideal replacement for the PAF's ageing
medium-tech fleet of F-6s, F-7s, A-5s and Mirages, which are to be retired over the next
decade. It is now obvious that its Air Staff Requirement of 150 Super-7s will have to be
revised to take into account its inability, in the short-to-medium term, to procure advanced
Western avionics, including a multi-mode Pulse Doppler Radar, a mission computer, INS and
multi-function displays. The Western arms embargo also means that the PAF will have to
revise the Super-7's weapons package, which was to have included a variety of conventional
and guided weapons, a potent SRAAM and an active MRAAM.
The PAF will have little choice but to press the government for a much larger number of the
Chinese version of the combat plane, known as the FC-1, which is to have basically the same
airframe as the Super-7, but would have to be equipped with Chinese-manufactured avionics
and weapons systems. There are also small differences in aircraft systems and equipment.
Pakistan has had to struggle to find an overseas partner for the Super-7 venture. Its earlier
overtures to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were rebuffed. Ankara remains committed to
the production under licence of the F-16, while the UAE has preferred off-the-shelf purchases.
Beijing, too, had hesitated to form a joint venture, because of its belief in more affordable
options and weaponry, and had sought to place the responsibility for the procurement of
avionics with the PAF.
They were finally convinced by former chief of the air staff, Air Marshal Abbas Khattak, to
collaborate in the avionics venture on strategic grounds. It took three years of negotiations
between 1995 and 1998 to finalise the two sides' selection of equipment, statement of work
and cost evaluation. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the governments of
Pakistan and China during the visit of the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to Beijing in
February 1998. This was followed by the inking of a formal contract during his next visit to
China in June last year. Appropriately, Thursday's revelations about the Super-7's development
came on the sidelines of a ceremony at Air Headquarters to launch The Story of the PAF
(1988-98) - A battle against the odds, a book that details the retarding effect of international
sanctions on Pakistan's air defence capability over the last decade.
The book, drafted by a team led by retired Air Marshal Rasheed Sheikh, candidly relates the
difficulties encountered by the PAF since October 1990, when the Bush administration
adjudged Pakistan to have crossed the nuclear threshold. This resulted in the cancellation of
the Peace Gate-IV programme, under which Pakistan was to have spent US$1.4 billion on the
induction of 60 new F-16s between March 1993 and February 1997. The enforcement of the
Pressler Amendment was reflected within a year, when the PAF's fleet of F-16s was hit by
engine-related problems and all aircraft had to be grounded. The PAF's Project Falcon initiated
engine inspections and depot level work at the Sargodha Air Base, but it took two years to
recover the 32 aircraft.
Washington also resisted the implementation of the Falcon-Up F-16 upgrade programme,
saying it was prohibited under the Pressler Amendment, but were eventually convinced to
relent on the grounds that programme was a safety-related one, and did not enhance the
aircraft's operational capability. The earlier enforcement of the Pressler Amendment also
prompted the PAF to launch efforts to procure a non-American hi-tech aircraft.
Between late 1990 and 1993, it evaluated and rejected the British Tornado, took a close look
at the Mirage 2000E, and received a misleading offer from Poland for the supply of MiG-29s
and Su-27s. In 1992, the PAF revived an 11-year-old proposal to acquire 20-40 Mirage 2000s,
but Paris was reluctant to sell a fully capable version for political reasons. A possible
alternative appeared in August 1994, when Sweden's SAAB conglomerate offered to supply its
JAS-39 Grippen aircraft, but the deal was killed because of its 20 per cent American
component content.
Meanwhile, France had offered the Mirage 2000-V and upon re-evaluation, the PAF concluded
that model incorporated the technological jump that it had been looking for. The French offer
was not based upon the PAF's the operational requirement vis-a-vis its operational deployment
in the event of war, but Paris agreed to remove the plane's deficiencies. The negotiations
began to become unstuck when it came to the price tag of $3 billion for 32 aircraft, a figure
that shot up to $4.1 billion when the cost of a 10-12 year financing package was included.
The PAF continued to press for the technical package, but had to combat both tough French
negotiating tactics and the Pakistan government's reluctance to pay for such a large
purchase. The deal was ultimately killed in late 1996 by the caretaker government of Malik
Meraj Khalid, who was scared off by a distorted media campaign against the Mirage
acquisition. During this difficult period, the PAF had little option but to take steps to maintain
its fleet size and operational capability.
This involved the induction of additional F-7 aircraft and the launch of two major upgrade
programmes, the most important involving the upgrade and overhaul of existing Mirage III and
Vs, as well as F-7s, A-5s and T-37 basic trainer aircraft. The PAF is currently taking delivery
of 40 upgraded Mirage III and V aircraft under a $118 million contract finalised in February
1996.
This followed the procurement of 50 mothballed Mirages from Australia under a A$27 million
deal finalised in April 1990, from which a total of 45 aircraft have been recovered, upgraded
and inducted into the PAF. Unfortunately, the imposition of fresh sanctions by the United
States in May 1998, following the tit-for-tat nuclear tests conducted first by India and then
Pakistan, has again hit the PAF's maintenance of its F-16 fleet. These sanctions, imposed
under the Glenn Amendment, has also affected the serviceability of the PAF's fleet of 12
C-130s, reduced the availability of its automated air defence network, and rendered unusable
the six TPS-43 radar employed to provid high-level coverage over Pakistan.
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