U.S. to provide 85 drones for Pakistan

[HAIDER]

ISLAMABAD, April 22 (Xinhua) -- A local English TV channel Express on Friday quoted unidentified U.S. military officials as saying that Pakistan will be given 85 small drones to fight the militants in the country's northwest tribal areas.

The news came shortly after the U.S. army chief Mike Mullen paid a visit to Pakistan.

On Wednesday, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad from Afghanistan for talks with the Pakistani military and political officials.

During his stay, Mike Mullen met with his Pakistani counterpart Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Khalid Shameem Wynne and other top Pakistani military officials including the Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Kayani.

The two sides mainly discussed the security issues, particularly the anti-terror war issues, as well as the ways to ease the current tension between the two allies, which resulted from a massive strike by U.S. drones on March 17th, that mistakenly killed over 40 civilians in Pakistan's northwest tribal area.

Pakistan's Army Chief Kayani openly condemned the March 17th U. S.drone strike against innocent civilians and was quoted as saying during Mike Mullen's visit in Pakistan that the U.S. drone strike has affected the anti-terror war between the two countries.

The Pakistani side, while turning a half-open half-closed eye on the U.S. drone strikes in its territory, has long demanded the U.S.side to provide it with the drone technologies, but the U.S. side has turned a deaf ear to such requests from Pakistan.
The unconfirmed agreement by the U.S. side to provide Pakistan with 85 small drones could be a comprise made by the U.S. army chief Mike Mullen during his visit in Pakistan in order to win the support and cooperation from Pakistan, especially from its army, in the fight in the neighboring country of Afghanistan.

The militants hiding in Pakistan's northwest tribal areas often launch attacks at the US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan across the border, posing a serious headache for the NATO troops there.
Editor: Chen Zh
U.S. to provide 85 drones for Pakistan

 

[XYON]

What a JOKE!

Pakistan has asked the USA for Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) technology and they have been offered instead the 'hand-launched' Mini-UAV RAVEN with an operational radius of 10kms!!!

I think GHQ must be pretty stupid to fall into this kind of a trap!!! We already have the LUNA mini-UAV operated by the MI, catapult launched with an operational radius of 65 kms!!

 

[Jango]

agreed....this is a joke if it is the raven!!

---------- Post added at 02:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:53 PM ----------

pakistan has burraq so why get raven??

 

[Tayyab1796]

US can keep these outdated drones rather ... shove them up their backside ...

 

[Time Assassin]

I don't think they will be giving us 85 anyway. Those things are still expensive and US knows that Pakistan is losing its patience with the US.
Their little toys won't solve anything.

 

[Jango]

one raven system costs 250000$...no thanks you ignorant whites....we are better off with our burraq and other systems...

 

[Imran Khan]

one raven system costs 250000$...no thanks you ignorant whites....we are better off with our burraq and other systems...

85 of ravan cost same as 3 f-16 hehehehehe we should buy f-16 with this money .lol

 

[emoriphious]

what a joke

 

[Luftwaffe]

No instead of 85 ravens Pakistan at home can develop 200 home made small battle field surveillance uavs or fund to equipt falco.

I am hoping Pakistan would along with Chinese armed UAV come up with its own armed version this year or next year asap. To begin with we should have come up with our own instead of going for the Chinese, never the less a good deal but we don't want to see our local industry ruined.

 

[MJaa]

PA can get 85 of these micro UAVs and hand them over to couple to most infantry brigades and may be this will give PA a taste of new capability and then our own industry can grab some orders.

 

[MJaa]

US to Provide 85 Hand-Launched RQ-11 Raven UAVs to Pakistan

US officials have disclosed that USA is going to provide 85 small hand-launched AeroVironment’s RQ-11 Raven UAVs to Pakistan Army. US officials have said that this is going to be a key step towards meeting Pakistan’s repeated requests for US drone technology.


Sale of the RQ-11 Raven UAVs is separate from the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s offer to sell 12 Shadow UAVs in January 2010. Pakistani officials have said that talks are being held to overcome the objections of high cost and slow timeline for delivery. US officials claimed that these talks are almost complete.

Click here to Read More

 

[MJaa]

85 RQ-11 Raven can be used by the army units in FATA for low-altitude reconnaissance, surveillance, force protection, battle damage assessment, and convoy security missions and may be this will give PA a taste of new capability and then our own industry can grab some orders.

More than 13,000 Raven airframes have been delivered to customers worldwide to date and The US Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command are the primary users of Raven B. RQ 11B Raven's full-rate production for the US army is scheduled up to 2014. Australia, Italy, Denmark,France, the UK and Spain are also acquiring the Raven.

Mini-UAVs Rack Up Big Gains
In use with Navy SEAL teams, Raven imagery has been used to support F/A-18F strikes using the fighter’s Raytheon Atflir targeting pod. The Raven initially acquired the target, and video from the UAV, based on its position and sight line, was used to fix the location. Raven imagery was then embedded in a Joint Tactical Airstrike Request and transmitted to the fighters. The Atflir could then be cued automatically onto the target, allowing the pilot to confirm that the image was what the Raven was looking at. Atflir imagery was then downlinked to a Rover terminal, providing final confirmation for an attack.

The Raven is the object of a product improvement program. One innovation under test is a digital data link, which would replace a four-channel analog link. It has two immediate advantages: increasing the number of available channels to 16 from four, and allowing one UAV to act transparently as the relay for another vehicle, providing a beyond-line-of-sight capability that is useful in rugged or urban terrain.

 

[MJaa]

Send out Ravens, save Soldiers

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s actually both, sort of.

Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division and the 41st Fires Brigade re-certified on the Army’s smallest unmanned aerial vehicle, the Raven RQ-11B.

The master Raven trainers from the 41st Fires Brigade trained with Rail Gunner Raven operators and several of 2nd BCT Raven operators to re-certify and obtain more Raven flight time during the two-day re-certification course at House Creek Urban Assault Range located on Fort Hood, Texas, March 10-11.

The 41st Fires Bde. currently maintains the only two master Raven trainers on Fort Hood.

“I think the Raven is one of the greatest forewarning systems the Army has produced,” said Staff Sgt. Josh Frana, a master Raven trainer with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment. “It’s fairly easy to operate. It’s almost like a video game.”

The Raven is a small hand-launched aircraft powered by a small motor that resembles a remote control plane with a fail-safe design to fall apart in several pieces during the landing. However, the Raven is equipped with a few additional upgrades and a ground station to set it apart from the average hobby plane.

“The Raven may look like a small remote controlled toy, but compared to its likeness, it is a valuable tool that minimizes the loss of Soldiers lives and equipment on the battlefield,” said Chief Warrant Officer Mike Ebinal, electronic warfare officer, 2nd BCT, 1st Cav. Div. “It’s important that our Soldiers receive the proper training on the Raven and keep their certifications up to date.”

The Raven is light weight and easily assembled that is equipped with a color video camera, a global positioning system, and an infrared night vision camera for surveillance and reconnaissance. Raven operators should receive at least 15 minutes of flying a month and should re-certify every six months.

“The Raven is a unique instrument,” said Sgt. 1st Class Randell Evans, a master Raven trainer with 2nd Bn., 20th Field Artillery. “It’s man-portable, you can put it in the back of a vehicle and take it where needs to go to conduct Raven operations or you can put it in a rucksack and walk it in.”

Evans, a multiple launch rocket system crewmember by trade, said he felt honored to be one of two master trainers on Fort Hood.

The Raven was first introduced in 1999 and has been saving lives ever since.

 

[Peshwa]

Just out of curiosity.....

Pakistan has been asking the US to supply it the Predator drones for a while now, however.....Pakistani army and politicians have also been complaining about the civilian casualties caused by the same drone attacks....

So how exactly is the Pakistani Army going to do a better job with the Predator than the Americans have been doing? I mean after all, the intelligence for most of these strikes (at least pre Raymond Davis) was received in collaboration with the ISI....
I mean not like the ISI and PA can clear the area of civilians before making the strike....thats the whole advantage of the surprise attack isnt it?

So if the drone strikes cause a ton of collateral damage, which is turning public opinion sour....why is PA still pursuing this goal?