Harpoons for Pakistan

Any chance of integrating Harpoons to the F-22P frigate?
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US 'agrees' Pakistan missile sale
The Bush administration says that it has agreed to sell Pakistan advanced missiles designed to be launched from ships and submarines.

It says that it has also agreed to sell $375m worth of related equipment.

In a notice to Congress, which has to agree the proposal, the Pentagon said the sale would significantly upgrade Pakistan's existing weapons systems.

It said that the security of the US would be improved by aiding what a "key ally in the war against terror".

'Significant upgrade'

The proposed sale is being dealt with by The Pentagon, which handles most such deals on behalf of the US government.

The Pentagon Defence Security Cooperation Agency said in a notice to Congress that 50 Harpoon missiles sold to Pakistan would be for launch from submarines, 50 from surface ships and 30 by air.

However, officials stress that the deal is far from being completed, and could be vetoed by Congress.

"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be a key ally in the global war on terrorism," a Pentagon statement said.

The US lifted restrictions on arms sales to Pakistan last year, when it announced an expansion in two-way defence trade, missile-defence cooperation, technology transfers and weapons co-production.

The restrictions were put in place in 1990, but lifted after The Pentagon said Pakistan had "demonstrated its willingness to fight terrorists", especially in Waziristan.

Correspondents say Pakistan had originally requested a much larger package, but had downgraded the amount, saying it could no longer afford it after last year's earthquake.

Harpoon uses a satellite-aided navigation system which The Pentagon says will "significantly reduce the risk of hitting non-combatant targets, thus improving Pakistan's naval operational flexibility".

The Pentagon says that Pakistan will use the new equipment on maritime surveillance aircraft, surface ships and submarines

Pakistan has fought three wars with India since both counties won independence in 1947.

adeptitus said:

Any chance of integrating Harpoons to the F-22P frigate?

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Well probably not, F-22P is supposed to use Chinese SSM. Harpoon purchase is probably for Kortnaer( Elli) class frigates and new corvettes…

I have been looking at different sources for harpoon missile's range. They all classify them in A,D,F for ship launched version. Now the problem is that all export versions are just dubbed as AGM-84L. No way to tell which of the above three it actually is (all three have different ranges). Anyone knows what are the range of the ones being exported to Pakistan??

maglomanic said:

I have been looking at different sources for harpoon missile's range. They all classify them in A,D,F for ship launched version. Now the problem is that all export versions are just dubbed as AGM-84L. No way to tell which of the above three it actually is (all three have different ranges). Anyone knows what are the range of the ones being exported to Pakistan??

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I would not really worry about finding the range of Harpoon. I would guess the ones that Pakistan got should at least go 120 KM, probably as much as 180 KM. Either way, there is a lot more to the strength of a missile than just range. If you compare the Harpoon to some Russian/Chinese missile, it might not do as well just looking at the pure stats. But in battle situation, it's more about how well can a missile evade missile defence, how accurate a missile is, how a missile deals with ECM and such.

I dont think this deal is that remarkable given the numbers of actual missiles involved and lets face it, 350 million dollars is not that much when discussing military hardware. Though the harpoons are of significant upgrade type and will go a long way to enhance the PN, I dont see what all the fuss is about for a military deal worth only a paltry sum. The decision for the purchase was downgraded in light of the governments efforts to rebuild the Earthquake damaged areas as that is the current focus of the government still. These package seems only to be a natural /interim purchase that one would normally expect the Pakistani armed forces to acquire every so often to keep its stock of equipment up to par. Several years back, the UAE purchased missile & other related materials worth 2 billion dollars. Now, that was something to marvel at! There's no comparison

PakTopGun said:

I dont think this deal is that remarkable given the numbers of actual missiles involved and lets face it, 350 million dollars is not that much when discussing military hardware. Though the harpoons are of significant upgrade type and will go a long way to enhance the PN, I dont see what all the fuss is about for a military deal worth only a paltry sum. The decision for the purchase was downgraded in light of the governments efforts to rebuild the Earthquake damaged areas as that is the current focus of the government still. These package seems only to be a natural /interim purchase that one would normally expect the Pakistani armed forces to acquire every so often to keep its stock of equipment up to par. Several years back, the UAE purchased missile & other related materials worth 2 billion dollars. Now, that was something to marvel at! There's no comparison

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350mn USD on simply missiles is quite a bit of money for a country like Pakistan, and that too for fairly advanced anti-ship/coastal attack missiles. Remember the UAE deal included BVR, WVR, land attack missiles, etc. Over the long run you can expect Pakistan to exceed UAE in buying missiles as it has more planes, ships, etc.