Pakistan gets JDAM capability

crazyinsane105 said:

Pakistan gains capability to hit invisible target
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has gained what it calls ‘joint standoff weapons’ a capability through which an invisible target can be hit.

The weapon, in which integrated Global Position System and Inner-shell Management System Navigation are used, is a part of a joint programme of Navy and Air force in the U.S.

Joint airframe, guidance system and flight control is used in this programme which is designed on the modular programme and thanks to this system the missile can hit a target at range of 70 kilometers.

The missile can hit an enemy target without entering air limits of an enemy.

[qimg]http://www.geo.tv/news_images/pakistan/28-Feb-06-4076304d-00b0-4fb7-a1a8-7142427d2e28pak_lpic.jpg[/qimg]

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Is this news true? I haven't read other sources about this aquisition.

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he value of Tomahawks has sharply declined with the introduction of JDAM satellite-guided tail assemblies (below) in 1998. These are attached to regular "dumb" bombs to guide them to a precise hit up to 15 miles away. They are dropped safely at high altitudes by any type of aircraft. Mostover, the kit costs only $20,000 each, see FAS JDAM for more info. These were used very successfully against Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan, so the question arises why the Navy wasted $32 million dollars to fire 65 Tomahawks in October 2001 when it could have dropped 65 1000lbs bombs for $1.3 million? The Tomahawks only advantage is they do not risk pilots in high threat environments. However, there was no high altitude threat over Afghanistan and pilots can drop them up to 15 miles from the target. The only explanation for their employment in Afghanistan is the corrupt logic of senior military officers that everyone gets a piece of the action and money doesn't matter.

In addition, Tomahawks are less accurate and often less effective than JDAM since they fly in horizontally at several hundred miles an hour. If they fail to explode at the exact microsecond, they will miss their target by hundreds of meters. After an errant cruise missile killed four UN workers in Kabul, they were sidelined. Another factor is that cruise missiles flying horizontally can't penetrate downward into bunkers like falling JDAM bombs. JDAM can also be attached to larger 2000lbs bombs, 1000lbs bombs, or 500lbs bombs (which are better in crowded urban areas), while cruise missile warheads are always 1000lbs. Finally, about 10% of Tomahawk cruise missiles fail at launch, and the rest can be shot down by ground fire, something the Iraqis often achieved. In short, Tomahawk cruise missiles are less accurate, less effective, more vulnerable, less reliable, and 25 times more expensive than JDAM bombs.

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In this context, PAF's planned F-16 purchase is clearly a massive boost to its sagging morale. For starters, PAF is likely to buy Block-52 F-16s, which are only surpassed by the Block-60 model currently being delivered to the United Arab Emirates. The Block-52 F-16 comes with the Northrop Grumman APG-68(V)9 multimode radar which has five times processing speed over the previous APG-68(V)7/8 radar. The F-16s also feature a new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with two-feet resolution, which enables autonomous delivery of precision, all-weather, standoff weapons like the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW), both of which are rumored to be on offer to Pakistan.

Most importantly, the new F-16s finally give PAF a BVR air-combat ability along with the peerless AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, which is perhaps the best BVR weapon of its kind in the world today. PAF's existing 32 F-16s are also likely to be given a Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU), making them BVR capable as well. While the PAF has yet to release the exact number of new F-16s it will buy, reports say that it is likely to be around 55. Given that IAF's plans to procure newer planes are headed nowhere in the coming years and the slow rate of induction of IAF's Su-30s, it is quite likely that by 2009 or so, PAF will be in a position where it can confidently defend Pakistan's airspace and perhaps even be capable of deep strikes into India should the US supply offensive weapons like the JDAM and JSOW.

Still, PAF faces some challenges. According the recently released official flight safety statistics, the air force logged around 82,000 hours in 2004. Given that PAF has over 550 combat aircraft and at least two pilots per available aircraft, the average comes to less that 75 hours per pilot per year. This is clearly a far cry from the PAF's past claims of averaging over 200 hours per pilot annually. The IAF reportedly averages between 150 and 180 annual flying hours. Regardless, it now appears likely that with the F-16 purchase as well as other planned acquisitions including Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircrafts, PAF is well on its way to erasing the painful memories of Kargil and the 2002 crisis. -- Kaushik Kapisthalam

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ArjunMk1 said:

Its not reversed engineered thing, USA sold it to Pakistan !! Maybe now onwards PAF will be searching and bombing Al-Queda targets in its remote north-western provinces !!

JDAM from fas.org :

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ArjunMk1 said:

Its not reversed engineered thing, USA sold it to Pakistan !! Maybe now onwards PAF will be searching and bombing Al-Queda targets in its remote north-western provinces !!

JDAM from fas.org :

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crazyinsane105 said:

It is kind of confusing right now. There are reports that claim this is PAF's T-Darter bombs while other reports claim it is the JDAM. I personally think it's the JDAM.

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