No 13 Erieye squadron returns to full strength
Pakistan AF Erieye Repaired After Damage in Terrorist Attack
Posted on 11 September, 2015
Pakistan Air Force Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C aircraft 10-025 at Dubai on November 17, 2011. The PAF Erieye fleet is now back up to full strength following repair of the example that was damaged in a terorist attack on August 16, 2012. Dmitriy Pichugin
A PAKISTAN Air Force (PAF) Saab 2000 Erieye airborne early warning and control aircraft has been returned to service, three years after being extensively damaged during a terrorist attack on PAF Base Kamra-Minhas. The aircraft was officially declared operational again with 13 Squadron at Minhas yesterday, September 10, after being repaired by the co-located Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), according to local media source Dunya News.
As previously reported on AFD, the aircraft, identity still unknown, was parked in its hangar at Kamra-Minhas on August 16, 2012, when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the hangar wall. Shrapnel from the explosion of the RPG caused serious damage to the Erieye.
An initial inspection by engineers from PAC Kamra on the following day indicated that the aircraft should be repairable. Subsequently, on February 6, 2013, Pakistan Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Azra Fazal Pechuho told a meeting of Pakistan’s National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence that the aircraft had been assessed as damaged beyond repair. It appears, however, that later re-assessment determined it could be repaired after all. A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence Production was informed yesterday that US aircraft engineers had estimated the cost of rebuilding the aircraft at $30 million, but Pakistani personnel had completed the work for just $15 million, over a period of ten months.
The PAF took delivery of four Saab 2000 Erieyes, the first of which was delivered on December 8, 2009. The repair of the damaged aircraft now brings 13 Squadron back up to full strength. The unit also flies a single Saab 2000 in standard passenger configuration, which is used for crew training. AFD-Dave Allport