Laser-guided munition exhausted

[HAIDER]

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has exhausted most of its laser-guided munitions in anti-militant operations in Malakand and Fata regions, according to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Talking to a delegation of the French Senate here on Monday, Gilani called for capacity-building of security agencies and said that there was an urgent need to replace crucial accessories.
The country needed night vision devices, helicopters and drone technology, the prime minister added.
The delegation, led by Senator Josselin de Rohan, comprises of members from Senate committees on foreign affairs, defence and armed forces. Other members of the delegation are Senators Jean-Pierre Chevenement and Didier Boulaud.

Expressing satisfaction over defence and economic ties between Pakistan and France, Gilani said that he was he was looking forward to President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit to Pakistan early next year.

Senator Josselin de Rohan lauded Pakistan’s role in curbing terrorism and extremism. 'Without Pakistan’s support it will not be possible to succeed in this effort.'
He assured the prime minister of France’s support and said that he would convey to his government Pakistan’s requirements for ammunition and military hardware.
France’s ambassador to Pakistan Daniel Jouanneau also attended the meeting.
Earlier, the two sides agreed at a meeting between French Senators and Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi, chairman of the Senate’s standing committee on defence and defence production, to mount joint efforts to fight extremists and terrorists.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Laser-guided munition exhausted, says Gilani

 

[adnan1479]

i thought the AWC had already acquired the ability to manufacture bolt on laser guidance kits for the Mk series bombs

 

[araz]

i thought the AWC had already acquired the ability to manufacture bolt on laser guidance kits for the Mk series bombs

I think this is a series of news to put more pressure o the US to provide us with what we want as soon as possible. If push came to shover we will manage to find some to shove up someone 's behind. It is not a bad strategy. Deal with them as they deal with you.
Araz

 

[Righteous_Fire]

I think this is a series of news to put more pressure o the US to provide us with what we want as soon as possible. If push came to shover we will manage to find some to shove up someone 's behind. It is not a bad strategy. Deal with them as they deal with you.
Araz

I think so too, anyways, any such good efforts by the concerned authorities will suffer a major dent from the lack of good media support and propagation.

Sadly, our Pakistani Media doesnt at all support our Armed Forces like it used to support back in 48,65, 71 etc. or like the Indians or the West.

We should make sure that they are supported by the Media very strongly.

 

[adnan1479]

perhaps because it is no longer "Pakistani" media

 

[HAIDER]

May be its separate inventory to consume only war on terror . Which is totally financed and supplied by NATO member country. Don't think so PA consume its reserves.

 

[blain2]

PAF always maintains war reserves. However the munitions used have to be replenished and I believe the reason this issue was raised with the French may have been to diversify the supply.

 

[HAIDER]

Never noticed French played any key role in NATO supplies. Even first time they deployed Tigercopter in Afghanistan (again which is FrenchOGerman), which are hardly six of them, only major deployment.

 

[nightrider_saulat]

so it means that we are so poor that we can't even fight with our enemy for longer then two months! is it so guys?

 

[TaimiKhan]

PAF definitely would be having a major war reserve of PGMs, i believe PAF had ordered hundreds of such PGMs & they would have consumed hardly dozens in this operation. The pressure on Pakistan has been mounting again to launch the operation in Waziristan, see how US has now started the Quetta Shura rhetoric to pressurize the Govt. For an excuse Pakistan has come with this that their stockpile of PGMs assigned for WoT has finished or on the low end so that new stockpiles are received as PAF won't touch its war reserve.

If PAF had wanted PGMs so badly we have alternate sources too, Chinese PGMs have come onto the scene whose CEP is nearly equal to the western PGMs CEP & we can get them very easily, but to counter US pressure this is a good tactic.

 

[araz]

PAF definitely would be having a major war reserve of PGMs, i believe PAF had ordered hundreds of such PGMs & they would have consumed hardly dozens in this operation. The pressure on Pakistan has been mounting again to launch the operation in Waziristan, see how US has now started the Quetta Shura rhetoric to pressurize the Govt. For an excuse Pakistan has come with this that their stockpile of PGMs assigned for WoT has finished or on the low end so that new stockpiles are received as PAF won't touch its war reserve.

If PAF had wanted PGMs so badly we have alternate sources too, Chinese PGMs have come onto the scene whose CEP is nearly equal to the western PGMs CEP & we can get them very easily, but to counter US pressure this is a good tactic.

Are there any locqal endeavours in the offing as well? The point that Blain made might point ot a collaboration rather than simply provision.However, your point about ploys and counter ploys makes sense.I would say that an advance in this season in that area is bound to fail and PA is wise to delay things till next Spring.Also there are other imponderable interests that we need to ensure that our friends deliver and dont just ditch us as before.
Araz

 

[TaimiKhan]

Are there any locqal endeavours in the offing as well? The point that Blain made might point ot a collaboration rather than simply provision.However, your point about ploys and counter ploys makes sense.I would say that an advance in this season in that area is bound to fail and PA is wise to delay things till next Spring.Also there are other imponderable interests that we need to ensure that our friends deliver and dont just ditch us as before.
Araz

Well Sir, many sources say that Pakistan has been making local laser guiding kits at AWC, technology having been given by US, some say no to it. recent views expressed by people say that we are making them with technology acquired from US & China both, some say only Chinese ones. PAF is all about secrecy, there is never a confirm specification or news about PAF's such type capabilities, H2/H4 ambiguity is still there even after many years.

China is fairly new in this field but to check the claims of their weapons performance is very easy for us, there are always test trials before purchasing any weapon, we can do that & see how good are these, plus China has put up their latest PGMs for export meaning any country coming to buy it will first test them & then buy. So China won't by lying about its weapons capabilities as they know if they lied it will surface at the tests plus China itself has started to equip its air force with these weapons, they have even modified their old Q-5 Fantans for laser guided munition delivery.

French are a good option too, we have now US as a source, French are there, China is there. I hope in future we won't be having any problems in the laser guided PGM category.

And as for the PA operation it would be a long & dirty one, will go on for months even can go an year+ if some miracle doesn't happen at the time of operation. The ones in SWA & NWA are the most hardcore ones, who will give a tough fight. But starting a fight in winter has its own benefits too depending if PA can make use of it & has the capability. But by giving time to the operation, PA is itself equipping more, the badly used Aviation wing would be in shape again by that time, units deployed would have gotten used to the area & strategies & tactics would have been finalized too. This would be a slow moving operation after the initial blitz erg like swat.

 

[PakShaheen79]

I think it is good move to keep telling everybody in West that we need teeth if they want us to continue their war in our backyard.

And for those who think PAF had use just some dozen of PGMs let me tell you guys till this date more than 100 air strikes have been reported in SWA alone.

 

[TaimiKhan]

I think it is good move to keep telling everybody in West that we need teeth if they want us to continue their war in our backyard.

And for those who think PAF had use just some dozen of PGMs let me tell you guys till this date more than 100 air strikes have been reported in SWA alone.

Yes but not every time PGMs are used.

 

[blain2]

so it means that we are so poor that we can't even fight with our enemy for longer then two months! is it so guys?

No this is not the case. In case of a conventional conflict, PAF is not limited to using just a few types of LGBs. They can use dumb ordnance and well as other specialized munitions. The case here is that PAF has used up quite a few LGBs and would like the stocks replenished.

Secondly, keep in mind that currently the PAF fleet is configured to only use LGBs and not Sat guided ordnance like the JDAMs. PAF has been acquiring both types because the plans are to integrate the JDAMs into the fleet. So LGBs being used up does not mean that PAF is out of PGMs.

For those asking about indigenous PGMs, Pakistan has invested in standoff weapons. However for the missions that have been undertaken, use of standoff munitions in such missions does not make much sense. These are designed for use in dense air defence environments where PAF may not want to send own aircraft too close to the target. Here in FATA/Swat, the air is wide open for the PAF to conduct operations right over the target area. To avoid collateral damage, LGBs are ideal and as such have been used as needed.