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Pakistan's UAV - Drone developments

Get the strike fighter experience in Latin America at the LAAD 2013 defense show

By Allison Barrie


.............And then there was Pakistan.

Pakistan made its debut this year at LAAD.

The largest state-owned defense conglomerate, Global Industrial & Defence Solutions, brought a range of unmanned aerial vehicles or “drones.” Remote controlled or self-controlled, these drones are designed for surveillance monitoring and other purposes.

They also featured their ANZA-MK II surface to air missiles, Baktar Shikan anti-tank guided missiles.


Ballet dancer turned defense specialist Allison Barrie has traveled around the world covering the military, terrorism, weapons advancements and life on the front line. You can reach her at wargames@foxnews.com or follow her on Twitter @Allison_Barrie
 
China Provides Key to Pakistani Bandwidth Requirements

Mar. 27, 2013 - 08:19AM | By USMAN ANSARI


ISLAMABAD — Pakistan continues to transform its military into a network-enabled force but will remain reliant on China to provide the bandwidth.

According to the military, its improved communication and surveillance capabilities, through employment of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets such as UAVs, aerial imaging and early warning platforms, were first resolutely tested in the Azm-e-Nau/New Resolve exercise in 2010.

However, according to Brian Cloughley, former Australian defense attaché to Islamabad, full communication and networking capabilities have not yet trickled down to front-line units, although at higher levels, this could be a different picture.

“Communications in the Army seem to me to be pretty basic, but of course all I’ve actually seen are the command posts and so forth in Mohmand and Swat; the higher-level arrangements, as in all armies, are strictly out of bounds to any but those with highest clearance.”

Pakistan may already be sharing bandwidth on Chinese satellites, he said. Despite the size of the Pakistani military and its recent modernization efforts, some analysts do not believe Pakistan requires a dedicated military communications satellite, and that an arrangement with China should be sufficient for its needs.

Elizabeth Quintana, senior research fellow in air power and technology at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said this is not unusual.

“Many countries buy bandwidth from allied nations or commercial suppliers. The U.S. military is 80 percent reliant on commercial SATCOM, for example, and that is not likely to change,” she said. However, she said it is not impossible that Pakistan would consider developing its own indigenous satellite communications assets.

“Having an indigenous SATCOM capability is largely a political decision [for national prestige, etc.] and, in some ways, may be a military decision if they believe they need an independent SATCOM capability and/or one that they could also offer to allies in return for access to other assets, such as Beidou [the Chinese GPS equivalent],” Quintana said.

Pakistan’s satellite capabilities are at a very early stage, however, so no such decision is expected soon.

While relying on Chinese satellite assets would seem highly advantageous, Quintana highlights some drawbacks.

“Using Chinese SATCOM would definitely hinder the Pakistanis from obtaining U.S. equipment that requires the use of SATCOM — MALE [medium-altitude, long-endurance] UAVs, such as Predator, for example,” she said.

Such an arrangement would give Beijing considerable influence over its South Asian ally.

“This is the problem for any small nation wishing to take advantage of investments that larger, more powerful allies have already made,” Quintana said.

Benefits Pakistan could derive from sharing bandwidth on a Chinese satellite, Quintana said, include access to a dedicated asset it may not be able to acquire for itself and access to China’s Beidou satellites. And in times of conflict, an enemy might refrain from attacking these assets for fear of drawing China into the fight.

“Additionally, if Pakistani systems utilize multiple [positioning, navigating and targeting] systems Beidou/GPS/Glonass/Galileo, it enhances resilience in the event of service failure or jamming,” Quintana said.

Having access to Chinese satellites would give Pakistan a signals relay capability, the lack of which has hindered the operation of MALE and high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAVs.

The data-link range of Pakistan’s tactical UAVs is stated as 200 to 250 kilometers.

Raja Sabri Khan, chief executive of Integrated Dynamics, a high-profile Pakistan UAV developer, said designing new types with the “performances to allow utilization of satellite communication links to their fullest potential” could become reality with a SATCOM capability.

All of the technological building blocks and technologies to develop MALE UAVs are in place, he said.

For more local use of MALE UAVs, he said, “simpler systems, such as repeaters [used commonly to boost cellular signals for increased coverage and range], can fill in as alternatives for thousands of kilometers of range if you plan to fly over your own territory”.

A SATCOM capability is a necessity for maritime patrol, an area where the Navy has started to operate tactical UAVs, and for the operation of HALE-type UAVs, Khan said.

Pakistan Suparco, NESCOM and KRL can do JV with GCC in making a network of Communication Satellites then they can also be able to sell bandwidth to others...
 
How many drones do you have? Do you have any? If you have then why don't you drop some dope in the US bases who are constantly bombing your country?
 
I think PN should acquire a good deal of UAVs Like:
30 Uqaab
30 Burraq

For survelliance and Reconassiance as operating MPAs everytime is cost consuming...

Concentrating more and more on Maritime security can easily ensure safer Pakistan.
 
How many drones do you have? Do you have any? If you have then why don't you drop some dope in the US bases who are constantly bombing your country?

Shahpar,Uqab series,Huma,Falco,Flamingo,border eagle .. several types other other uavs including man portable uavs,HALE (operated by PN)... etc etc..... others like : Burraq UCAV (under development)... MALE UAV (under development)... Also produce parts for Turkish Anka UAV...
 
which armed UAV's (combat UAV - UCAVs) does Pakistan make aside from Shahpur and Nescom Burraq?
 
which armed UAV's (combat UAV - UCAVs) does Pakistan make aside from Shahpur and Nescom Burraq?

None, and the Burraq is still considered to be under development, because there have been no official confirmations on it's deployment. The Shahpur is not technically an armed UAV, though, there have been rumors that the military has been testing it with domestically made and Chinese made laser designators and missiles.

I think PN should acquire a good deal of UAVs Like:
30 Uqaab
30 Burraq

For survelliance and Reconassiance as operating MPAs everytime is cost consuming...

Concentrating more and more on Maritime security can easily ensure safer Pakistan.

All branches of the military are investing heavily in drone tech, including the PN. The PN has less money to play around with than the PA and PAF, but it's still making progress towards naval UAVs.
 
@That Guy

Has Pakistan introduced any armed UAV yet?

Happy Eid to you BTW, even though it came a bit late, I apologize :thinktank:
 
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So they have clear red lights and fly half a kilometer INSIDE the border. So what's the problem here?

The problem is that they r indians i think they need to wear their country a bhurka.......

Reminds me of something like this...

Parosi khirki sy mery ghar main meri biwi ko jhank marr raha ha.......Indians Complaining!!!!!!!:omghaha::omghaha::omghaha:
 
@That Guy

Has Pakistan introduced any armed UAV yet?

Happy Eid to you BTW, even though it came a bit late, I apologize :thinktank:

Happy Eid to you too :)

Anyways, not officially. Pakistan is officially known to be working on armed drones, but unofficially Pakistan may already be operating them. Pakistan has previously announced that it would be buying Chinese armed drones the *CH-3 (more info on that at the bottom) capable of firing blue arrow missiles, which are rumored to be around the same effectiveness as a hellfire missile that the predator carries.

There were 2 suspicious drone attacks in february of this year which the CIA denied were theirs, which means that if their telling the truth, then either the Burraq UCAV that Pakistan has been working on was used, or a Chinese UCAV was used.

The Burraq UAV is said to still be in development, but some folks on the forums have suggested that the drone is operational, but is only being hidden due to perceived Pakistani public negativity towards armed UAVs, though none of them have proven their claims and I have no reason to believe them.

*Suspiciously, the CH-3 uses the same body frame as the Shahpur, leading many to believe that China transferred the technology of the drone to Pakistan, and that Pakistan's Shahpur UAV may unofficially be armed, though that has never been proven. The CH-3 agreement was also thought to include the upgrade of the system to the CH-4 UAV, also known to carry weapons. The CH-4 uses a similar looking air-frame to the predator UAV.

Here are some pictures for comparisons...

CH-3 UCAV
35kmyw8.jpg


Shahpur UAV
82437249.jpg


CH-4 UCAV
CH-4_medium_altitude_long-endurance_MALE_tactical_UAV_AirShow_China_2012_aviation_aerospace_exhibition_640_002.jpg


Predator UCAV
predatorb_1.jpg


Does Pakistan have UCAVs? You be the judge, because at this point, I have no clue.
 
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