I was looking at the above list and have been wondering what %age have been deployed in relief duties..and why can’t more be used for that kind of work?
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Oh baboo! You don’t deploy cobras and lamas for rescue mission. For rescue ops you need transports such as MI-7s. There is a small percentage reserved for ops in Siachin and Wazirastan.
If you pull the 3 transports off of Siachin, thousands of our troops will perish in the coming winter.
I hope those tribals quiet down a bit. This will allow more assets to be devoted to Kashmir.
Read baboo read what BBC has to say.
Earthquake helicopter ‘heroes’
By Aamer Ahmed Khan
BBC News, Rawalpindi
When the global media descended on Pakistan in the wake of the killer quake on 8 October, what the world saw was a relief effort that was perhaps memorable only for its chaos.
Helicopters
The helicopters have been called “angels” by villagers
What went unnoticed was the tireless effort made by a handful of nameless and faceless people that eventually set the ground rules for what is shaping up into one of the largest relief and rescue operations since the Asian tsunami.
These men are the helicopter pilots of Pakistan’s armed forces - perhaps the only people who have delivered more than was expected of them.
Follow link for the rest of the report.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4346778.stm
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
I don’t think that all of those helicopters have the capability to operate at the altitudes and conditions in Kashmir. Additionally, most of those lack transport capacity, being reconnaisance helicopters with low payloads.
The Mi-17s and Pumas are the ones best suited for relief duty, and Pakistan seems to have most of those on relief duty already. (Pakistan has about 65 helicopters of this class, and over 50 helicopters on relief duty)
You also need to bear in mind that at any given point in time a large portion of Pakistan’s helicopters will be in non-operational condition due to maintainance.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Not just Pak army, every army in the world has upto 25% of its helicopters going through maintenance. Helicopters in general are notorious for their reliability. You have to keep these puppies in tip top shape all the time. That means one thing. Bunch of these birds will be in the hangers with their innards being repaired.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Of course. I’d be worried if Pakistan did not spend the right time maintaining its birds. Helicopters, aeroplanes and even tanks are extremely complicates, sensitive equipment that even in the best of armies spend around 25% of their lifespan in non-operational condition for maintainance.
It’s one of the reasons why Pakistan did not, for instance, purchase the M1 Abrams tank from the USA in the late 80s. It may have been the best tank in the world, but that’s no use if it spends too much time being serviced. Pakistan instead went for Russo-Chinese patterned tanks that were less powerful, but also less complex, more reliable, and more likely to actually be available to fight.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
^^ Yeap!
Russkie tanks have fewer operational hours. But you can easily buy no. 2 parts for those elephants. Abrams beats hands down all those ruskie stuff when it comes to giving service in the field. Their accuracy and maneuverability is unmatched by any of the Ruskie toys.
Gulf war-I and II were clearly evidence of the superiority of Abrams in the desert warfare. Spare parts are definitely expensive though.
Off course tank fight won't get interesting without the tank-killer bird called A-10 Warthog.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Bit unfaie comapring a T42 to a M1 Abraham the newer Russian tanks and more than upto the job. Infact the T42 are known for their relibailaty and simple operation hence it's popularity just like the AK47. Give Taliban a M16 and it will be jammed after a day.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Wrong. The Abrams broke down very often in the field because their complicated gas turbine engines were easily fouled by sand
Russian tanks use diesel engines which are more reliable.
In the Gulf War, the unreliable Abrams won out because the US Army has a large support corps that kept the tanks on the move when they broke down. Pakistan rejected the Abrams because if they would operate the Abrams, then they would need to face either less operational time or grossly expand the tank maintainance forces.
In the end, we went with Russian pattern tanks which are more reliable, but lighter and less well armoured. Better to have lighter tanks in the field than heavily armoured behemoths unable to move because they were broken down.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
^^ I don't know about breaking down.
However T-90 (350 being bought by Bharatis) and the newer T-95s are really mean looking SOBs. I reckon Abrams and Challengers may have met their match (finally).
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Ok makes sense...thanks guys..would I be correct saying.. Pumas are 1970's choppers and the Mi-17's are Ruskie (are they the same make as the Hinds if they are Russian) ?
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
No hinds are Mi-24s!
Pakistan is rumored to have 1 or 2 defectees from the Afghan war used for SSG operations (the ability of hinds to successfully take in small fire even RPGs) though the present status of them is not known considering russia doesn't supply its spareparts to Pakistan.
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Pakistan must learn from the quake tragedy and prepare a plan for future. This includes buying the right type of machinery and aircrafts especially the helicopters.
The army takes most of Pakistans budget and therefore should be utilised more effectively instead of wasting it on the VIP culture (luxury enjoyed by Pakistani army officers etc and paying for their servants).
The British Army - regarded as the best fighting force and best trained - their officers don't have servants and other extra benefits served to them. So why is it that the Pakistan Army officers get special treatment especially being a poor country?
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Dude! You cant just take a tank and put it anywhere on the planet and expect it operate to the fullest of its ability. M1 Abram Tank will sink in the Indo-Pak terrain the moment it touches it. With all variants weighing over 60tons, its maneuverability will be GREATLY affected. So, there goes your maneuverability to the those Ruskie toys.
Why do u think the Indian Army rejected the Arjun? its because it weighed 57tons & IA knew that it would be a sitting duck, in combat. Same goes for all other tanks. Many have problems operating in certain heat conditions, T-90 for example.
I suppose, going by your logic, the “mean looking SOBs” characteristic of the tank is suppose to, somehow, make it superior to others?
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
Actually this whole manhoos culture (along with martial superior races:bukbuk2: ) was started by the British!
But as that song goes, Pakis are still slaves of the brits (and americans) only independent physically.
What do you expect when we have FCR and Act of India of 1935 still governing us? 
Re: Pakistans Helicopter force
According to the ISPR, out of the 91 choppers 41 belonged to Pakistan, 22 were from various friendly countries and 18 were of various NGOs and independent organizations.
The Pakistani helicopters engaged in the rescue and relief missions included 16 MI-17s, three Puma, ten Bell-412, two Y-12, two Sea King (Navy) and eight Aloutte.
There were 22 allied helicopters including 12 of the US, two German, two from Saudi Arabia and four Afghan MI-17s.
Besides, there were 18 miscellaneous helicopters including three of the International Committee of the Red Cross, three Japanese, two Latvians, two from the UN, four AB-139 of the Aga Khan Foundation, two Kamove of France and one Bell-212 of UAE.
During the last 16 days, the fleet of Pakistani and allied helicopters have flown 2,715 hours and evacuated 13,651 casualties.