, Pakistan is looking for new foreign supplies of advanced weaponry including beyond-visual range missiles as also fighter aircraft to address “the changing balance of power tilting dangerously in India's favour,” its Air Force chief has said.
A top near-term priority is the acquisition of beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAMS), Pakistan Air Force Chief of Staff Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat said in an interview to the latest issue of Jane's Defence Weekly.
While he notes that Pakistan is interested in buying such a missile from European suppliers or US, “that option is not yet open” and therefore, “I guess ultimately it will have to be Chinese.”
Pakistan has been working with China on developing the SD-10 BVRAAM missile, which could be ready for operational use “in less than a year,” Saadat said adding the plan is to ultimately retrofit the missile into all PAF fighter aircraft.
The service has also named acquisition of new fighters with “F-16 and above capability” as another primary need. The PAF is currently exploring options including F-16s repeatedly requested from Washington, Mirage 2000-9s similar to those bought by the UAE and Gripens.
Islamabad is also exploring options to acquire used F-16s from Belgium or the Netherlands or even the US.
Sadaat said that if the US government has objection to only (supplying) the new (F-16), acquiring used ones is one alternative option.
Pakistan had also been interested in buying used Mirage 2000-5s from Qatar, but Saadat said that following Indian interest in the same aircraft, it “is (now) too complex a deal, so perhaps it would not be easy to complete.”
Pakistan is also seeking larger numbers of less sophisticated aircraft to replace its ageing fleet. “We have to replace our A-5s, F-7s and Mirages within five to seven years”, Saadat explained.
Pakistan has also requested the HAWK surface-to-air missile system from the US, and is also exploring similar Ukrainian, Spanish, Italian and Chinese systems.
In order to address “the threat posed to our navy by the Indian Navy”, the PAF is also looking to acquire an air-to-air refuelling capability that would “extend the range of our aircraft”, ACM Saadat said.
Source: PTI
