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Viability and the need for underground airbases for PAF.

Awan68

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With the tremendous progress of supersonic/hyper sonic cruise missles, long range standoff weapons, stealth aircraft and advanced EW measures in the past decade, open airbases are no longer as impenetrable as they used to be even with multiple layers of air defence and ultra hardened bunkers. The threat of saturation cruise missle attack, drone swarms and hard to pin down stealth fighters on airbases looms over PAF in the next war, positively crippling billions worth of strategic aerial assets on the ground.

It is common knowledge that many of our nuclear strategic assets are provided cover by deeply dug tunnels and underground bases in impenetrable mountain ranges, a solution to protect aerial strategic assets arises out of this strategy and we won't be the first one to do it. It has been noted that China has near 40 such underground airbases which are considered impenetrable by cruise missles or even direct aerial bombing. The most an enemy can do is bomb the entrances and block the way out for several hours, nothing more. Swiss airforce has also been known to be an adherent of this strategy and is known to have several underground air bases.

Three to four such underground airbases at strategic locations among mountain ranges would be a start and a perfect solution for PAF to avoid destruction of aerial assets on the ground. Innovation lies at the basis of military strategy. There is no such thing as a conventional or traditionalist approach when the defence of an entire nation is at stake. We don't have the massive defence industrial base that the Us or China enjoy. We simply cannot churn out new fighters quickly enough as the war progresses hence we will mainly have to fight with the assets we already have therefore we simply cannot afford to loose them on the ground.

PLA fighters enroute to their underground dispersion hanger.
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Saab Viggen out of its underground dispersion hanger.
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Spare engines for the Viggen and Draken fighters are visible in this shot along with a Draken fighter aircraft.
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Well it is a nice suggestion but you will face a lot of resistance from the backward minded (retards) self proclaimed experts here citing the money a constraint and how the skills of PAF pilots can undo and unravel every threat even if they fly F-6 or F-7pgs against Rafales, SU-30MKIs, Mirage-2000 or F-16Vs.

According to these pseudo-experts, since we have such an army of pilots with superhuman skills, we don't need any underground airbases or medium to heavy fighter jets with advanced systems since skill of the man can do everything. Let our PAF pilots enjoy the joyrides instead of investing in futuristic machines and infrastructures.

Another group would come and claim that if we invest in raising the HDI of the nation, no enemy will ever attack us... as Saddam "never attacked" highly rich and wealthy Kuwait.
@MastanKhan
 
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Well it is a nice suggestion but you will face a lot of resistance from the backward minded (retards) self proclaimed experts here citing the money a constraint and how the skills of PAF pilots can undo and unravel every threat even if they fly F-6 or F-7pgs against Rafales, SU-30MKIs, Mirage-2000 or F-16Vs.

According to these pseudo-experts, since we have such an army of pilots with superhuman skills, we don't need any underground airbases or medium to heavy fighter jets with advanced systems since skill of the man can do everything. Let our PAF pilots enjoy the joyrides instead of investing in futuristic machines and infrastructures.

Another group would come and claim that if we invest in raising the HDI of the nation, no enemy will ever attack us... as Saddam "never attacked" highly rich and wealthy Kuwait.
@MastanKhan
Agreed, before we can rely on the excellent piloting skills of PAF, we actually need the pilots to get off the ground safe, a fish cannot swim in sand, niether can PAF pilots make the enemy disappear from the ground. No ammount of funding constraint argument can justify the lax defence of aerial assets due to monstrous cost of their procurement.
 
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With the tremendous progress of supersonic/hyper sonic cruise missles, long range standoff weapons, stealth aircraft and advanced EW measures in the past decade, open airbases are no longer as unpenetrable as they used to be even with multiple layers of air defence and ultra hardened bunkers. The threat of saturation cruise missle attack, drone swarms and hard to pin down stealth fighters on airbases looms over PAF in the next war, positively crippling billions worth of strategic aerial assets on the ground.

It is common knowledge that many of our nuclear strategic assets are provided cover by deeply dug tunnels and underground bases in unpenetrable mountain ranges, a solution to protect aerial strategic assets arises out of this strategy and we won't be the first one to do it. It has been noted that China has near 40 such underground airbases which are considered unpenetrable by cruise missles or even direct aerial bombing. The most an enemy can do is bomb the entrances and block the way out for several hours, nothing more. Swiss airforce has also been known to be an adherent of this strategy and is known to have several underground air bases.

Three to four such underground airbases at strategic locations among mountain ranges would be a start and a perfect solution for PAF to avoid destruction of aerial assets on the ground. Innovation lies at the basis of military strategy. There is no such thing as a conventional or traditionalist approach when the defence of an entire nation is at stake. We don't have the massive defence industrial base that the Us or China enjoy. We simply cannot churn out new fighters quickly enough as the war progresses hence we will mainly have to fight with the assets we already have therefore we simply cannot afford to loose them on the ground.

PLA fighters enroute to their underground dispersion hanger.
View attachment 443437

Saab Viggen out of its underground dispersion hanger.
View attachment 443438

Spare engines for the Viggen and Draken fighters are visible in this shot along with a Draken fighter aircraft.
View attachment 443439
Very nice suggestions in my opinion
Underground bases hungi pakistan k paas bhi definitely , atleast underground hangers will be there bcz they r very much needed
 
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If Modernization of PAF is going to Proceed,in current manner,uptill next decade we don't need Anything to protect PAF bases ,because no one would like to HIT our vintage Aircrafts.
Today PAF can hardly make any difference,at battlefield.
 
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Underground bases hungi pakistan k paas bhi definitely , atleast underground hangers will be there bcz they r very much needed
Allah kare hon, par kabhi suna nhn ain ke bare men.

If Modernization of PAF is going to Proceed,in current manner,uptill next decade we don't need Anything to protect PAF bases ,because no one would like to HIT our vintage Aircrafts.
Today PAF can hardly make any difference,at battlefield.
Modernization is going okay, better than our nemesis actually, we are talking about better protecting our assets, not needlessly trolling PAF which seems to be a habit of jesters on this forum.
 
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Agreed, before we can rely on the excellent piloting skills of PAF, we actually need the pilots to get off the ground safe, a fish cannot swim in sand, niether can PAF pilots make the enemy disappear from the ground. No ammount of funding constraint argument can justify the lax defence of aerial assets due to monstrous cost of their procurement.
We live in a hostile world, so first we need to secure ourselves and then focus on everything else. If I'm in a violent and chaotic neighbourhood, I would prefer to buy a gun to protect myself over a TV or a sumptuous dinner because I want to wake up alive next day even if I slept with an empty stomach.
 
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We live in a hostile world, so first we need to secure ourselves and then focus on everything else. If I'm in a violent and chaotic neighbourhood, I would prefer to buy a gun to protect myself over a TV or a sumptuous dinner because I want to wake up alive next day even if I slept with an empty stomach.
And yet we have one of the lowest defence budgets in the region, now couple that with the fact ke har dunya ke bare badmash se panga liya hua hai humne, khul ke pangy len lekin phir come up with a viable dfence budget. We needed to have a 15-17 bill budget like yesterday, even israel has abigger budget than us.
 
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That's partial true. The whole truth is we wake up for a short time, cry and then sleep again. :suicide::suicide2:
both india and pakistan are neighbors "living in glass houses and with stones in their hands" yet neither the indian govt nor the pak govt has taken any concrete steps to safeguard their public from a nuclear disaster. many countries all over the world are taking measures like constructing underground bunkers, alternate buildings in country side, carrying out evacuation drills etc while our leaders are just busy in saving their own corruption.
PAF being the smaller air force when compared with her adversary it is very important for them to defend their assets against the IAF. even if you look at the indian air bases on google earth you will find that their runways and tarmacs are better camouflaged then PAF bases.
 
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Allah kare hon, par kabhi suna nhn ain ke bare men.
Sir the thing is that most of the assets are kept secret , i have listent from some people about one or two places for which i cannot even imagine thst these can be in control of military thsts y i m hopeful that such air bases will also be there , but its my guess only
 
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And yet we have one of the lowest defence budget in the region, now couple that with the fact ke har dunya ke bare badmash se panga loya hua hai humne, we needed to have a 15-17 bill budget like yesterday, even israel has abigger budget than us.
Basically we as a nation have been feeding our badmaashiya for decades, Zardari-Nawaz-Altaf and their minions have robbed trillions of dollars but our so called retarded "experts" always target the defence budget. I have quote quite a few times how Golda Meir (Israeli PM) signed an expensive defence deal with USA over a simple cup of tea at her house when Israeli economy had been devastated by the war and when she was questioned by the opposition in Knesset (parliament of Israel), she said "I learned it from the Prophet (Peace be upon him) of Muslims. When he died there was no food in his home but there were nine of the best swords hanging on the walls of his clay cottages. The history does not remember how many eggs, breads and marmalade were available in the breakfast but remembers who many countries they conquered and how many battles and war they won."

We can learn from China as well.
 
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**sighs**
Pls note here.
https://fas.org/blogs/security/2016/11/pakistan-nuclear-infrastructure/

Musaf Airbase, Masroor Airbase, have hardened underground shelters. As do other bases.

An an Air Force which is hidden in shelters in one that has already lost.
Did you actually read the article which u posted, it mentions underground nuclear storage facilities not underground hangers, there is a huge difference mate and lol how did u reach the conclusion that a sheltered airforce is a defeated one:o:, a sheltered airforce is the one which doesnt get its fighter destroyed needlessly on the ground in bombing raids and hence has the maximum number of aircraft up in the air where they actually matter.
 
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