Pakistan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

RUSSIA LOOKS TO THE MIDDLE EAST FOR NEW AND RETURNING DEFENCE MARKETS



Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) brought its marquee fighter, the Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E, to the 2017 Dubai Air Show as part of a broad effort to secure new markets for its big-ticket items in the Middle East and to regain entry to legacy markets which had bought Russian through the Cold War.

The Su-35 is from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which, according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, is for an unspecified number of the fighter. Russia hopes to close a sale by the end of 2017 and, ideally, expand it to “” Flanker-Es.

However, UAC is also eager to generate interest for the Mikoyan MiG-35 Fulcrum-F, a twin-engine multi-role fighter equipped with the Zhuk-AE active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar. UAC and MiG are pitching the MiG-35 for its competitive acquisition and life-cycle costs, which MiG claims are 20% and 30-40% lower, respectively, than competing Western fighters.

With a focus on legacy MiG-29 users, , the Russian Aircraft Corp. MiG’s Director General, Ilya Tarashenko that talks are taking place with more than 30 countries. Bangladesh, India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Malaysia and Serbia are among the MiG’s prospective customers.

The Almaz-Antey S-400 long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system is making in-roads in the regional market as well, with Turkey signing on recently. Saudi Arabia has also for the S-400, with Bahrain also in the system. For Russia, the S-400 seems to have become its entry-ticket to accessing markets that continue to lean heavily on American and Western European armaments.

In an interview with , the Director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS), Dmitri Shugayev outlined Moscow’s defence export objectives, citing the Dubai Air Show as a major event. The FSVTS defines Russia’s defence export policies.

Shugayev also spoke of Pakistan, with whom Russia had relaunched defence relations in 2015. The FSVTS head reiterated that the central focus of those ties was counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism oriented, but also suggested that there are no explicit limits to scope of armament sales to Pakistan.

“With Pakistan, we have an agreement now on military-technical cooperation: I signed it on behalf of the Russian government this year. To be specific, we will supply the Mi-35 [helicopter] and we will see how events develop further. Our relations are based on a common goal of combatting terrorism, so in the future I also do not exclude any new export sales.”

Russia is also working to position itself as a factor in the defence industry development goals of its current and prospective customers. At the Dubai Air Show, UAC that it has begun talks with the UAE to potentially to co-produce the Irkut MC 21 airliner. UAC also an memorandum-of-understanding with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to “implement joint design and production in the field of civil aviation.” TAI’s General Manager Temel Kotil in developing a 100-seat airliner.

PAKISTAN AIMING TO PRODUCE COMMERCIAL COMMUTER AIRCRAFT



Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) is reportedly aiming to produce commercial aircraft to meet growing demand for domestic/commuter air travel in Pakistan as well as the Middle East and Central Asia.

Speaking to the at the 2017 Dubai Air Show, PAC’s Air Marshal Ahmer Shahzad outlined that PAC has interest in producing an aircraft with the passenger capacity of 10 to 30 seats.

Regarding export opportunities, Shahzad added, “If we make it [commercial aircraft] cost-effective, with sustained logistics and maintenance, it is going to be attractive to international customers.”

Notes & Comments:

Though PAC is primarily focused on supporting Pakistan’s defence aviation needs, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) leadership is intent on expanding PAC’s output to include civil/commercial aircraft. The Kamra Aviation City initiative, which was in July, is the desired launching point for this endeavour.

In his inaugural speech of the Kamra Aviation City initiative, Interior Minister – then Minister of Planning and Development – Ahsan Iqbal stated: “[This] is the model we have to learn from United States of America … engineering in our security sectors … must be leveraged for commercial opportunities and commercial applications so that it becomes a multiplier for national development.” (a thorough review of Pakistan’s aims and possible options regarding aviation industry development is ).

The PAF leadership has the private sector to invest in Pakistan’s aviation activities. It even placed the JF-17 Thunder, the mainstay fighter of the PAF, as an entryway for the private sector. However, PAC is currently only sourcing ‘non-technical’ inputs, such as rubber and the like, from the private sector.

The PAF could be viewing civil aviation as a viable means to prompt and sustain substantive private sector investment in Pakistani aviation, and to readily confer high-value work/production inputs to the private sector. Unlike defence hardware, civil aviation business need not be tied to government orders to sustain activities. The private sector can help sustain, if not lead, civil aviation demand (and supply).

In terms of technical requirements, PAC’s general idea of an aircraft with a capacity for 10-30 passengers indicates an aircraft with the size of up to the discontinued Dornier 328, which also has a seating capacity for 30 passengers. PAC did not provide additional details, but other attributes could be speculated based on Pakistan’s existing commuter aircraft use. Many commuter flights occur in hot-and-high, short-take-off-and-landing and semi-prepared runway conditions, which could necessitate a turboprop-based design.

With PAC the 10-30 seat size-class, it is difficult to imagine a jet aircraft. Such aircraft are rarely utilized in Pakistan outside of the VIP/VVIP domain, and the mainstay of commercial commuter aircraft, albeit larger ones such as the ATR-42, are turboprop-powered aircraft. Turboprop designs such as the N219 and SARA are meant to connect remote and inaccessible areas at low cost, which has been a perennial area of focus for Pakistani civil aviation. It is likely that PAC’s vision of a small 10-30 seat aircraft is a turboprop design.

Of the programs immediately available, PAC could have the option of trying to join PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) N219 utility aircraft, which has a passenger capacity of 19 seats. In July, PTDI a ‘Framework Agreement’ with Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) to collaborate on the N219 in various areas, including technical support and joint marketing. The advantage of the N219 is that it is in late-stage development, having conducted its maiden test flight in August 2017. Through a co-production partnership with PTDI, PAC could have a solution in the near-term. Like other aircraft of its class, such as the Cessna Grand Caravan EX, the N219 is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42 turboprop engines, for which PAC (or establishing) a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility.

In the N219/Caravan EX/King 350ER class, a risker – but potentially more rewarding in development, co-production and revenue-sharing – option could be Denel Aeronautics’ Small African Regional Aircraft (SARA). The Denel SARA was envisaged a utility aircraft solution to serve markets in Africa that are not covered by major airlines. The SARA is to have a passenger capacity for 24 seats. However, Denel has yet to initiate the SARA’s development, hence there is greater risk in the program, though PAC might be able to extract more in terms technology-transfer, workshare and revenue opportunities (e.g. having exclusivity in sales, production and support for Central Asia and the Middle East) if PAC funds most of it.

Though primarily intended for commercial use, a utility or light-commuter platform could also interest the armed forces. For example, Pakistan uses the Grand Caravan EX and King Air 350ER in medical evacuation () and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance () roles, respectively. In fact, Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior could utilize a platform of this class for utility, MEDEVAC and border surveillance tasks. These government use-cases also be pitched to prospective export customers, which would expand PAC’s defence and security portfolio while also giving it a commercial market offering.

It is not known if PAC is also interested in jet airliners. However, viability would be contingent on growth in Pakistan’s intercity and international regional travel. The emergence of private airlines such as Air Sial, Airblue and Serene Air, while promising for demand in 100-seat narrow-body airliners, is limited in scale to justify the immense investment necessary to develop and manufacture such aircraft. If an objective, it would have to be a long-term and incrementally pursued endeavour, one that might require partnering with an overseas manufacturer to distribute the development overhead and pool markets (for scale).

PAF - Mirage 5 - ROSE II

Pakistan's 1st LCB (Light Commando Battalion) securing Pakistan Afghanistan Border,
Bonus : 6ft Snowfall

PAK - SSG....

Japanese Diplomats sought assistance from Special Security Unit Sindh Police in preparation of security plan and arrangements for peacefully organizing next Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Japan....

timepass said:

Pakistan's 1st LCB (Light Commando Battalion) securing Pakistan Afghanistan Border,
Bonus : 6ft Snowfall

Click to expand...

These arent from LCB or Light Commando Battalion.. but Frontier Corps, KPK... These guys are Paramilitary.

FC KPK

PAKISTANI DELEGATION VISITED POLAND TO DISCUSS POTENTIAL ASSAULT RIFLE PROGRAM



From November 15-19, a Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) delegation – led by POF Chairman Lt. General Umar Farooq Durrani – visited Poland to discuss potential cooperation between POF and the Polish small arms industry, which is represented by the Polish Armaments Group (Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa SA: PGZ). This is the first of three Pakistani visits to PGZ scheduled for the current year.


Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) delegation meeting with PGZ. Photo source: PGZ

According to , the “main topic of talks” between Lt. Gen. Durrani and PGZ board member Maciej Lew-Mirski was the “potential of the purchase and transfer of technology related to the production of small arms and ammunition” for the purpose of supplanting the Pakistan Army’s G-3 and Type 56 assault rifles.

Maciej Lew-Mirski states that PGZ sees considerable opportunity in Pakistan’s defence market for Polish small arms manufacturers and other armament suppliers:

“Pakistan has a huge demand for small arms, which is linked to the unstable situation in their region … The PGZ sees great potential in cooperation with Islamabad, not only in the field of small arms but also in other areas of Pakistan’s modernization program.”

Should the Pakistan Army proceed with a small arms modernization program, PGZ estimates that the Army could require “between 500 and 800,000 new automatic rifles, which should replace existing weapons”, a program that could be worth up to $2 billion U.S.


Chairman of Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Lt. Gen. Umar Farooq Durrani meeting with PGZ officials. Photo source: PGZ

The POF delegation visited Fabryka Broni (FB) “Łucznik” in Radom, the Tarnów S.A. Mechanical Plant (Zakłady Mechaniczne Tarnów S.A: ZMT) and MESKO in Skarżysko-Kamienna.

Among FB-Radom’s marquee products is the GROT – , a modular assault rifle that can be chambered for 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO and 7.62x39mm. is a manufacturer of original design light and heavy machine guns as well as sniper rifles. manufactures ammunition.

Notes & Comments:

At Pakistan’s biennial defence exhibition IDEAS, which took place in November 2016, POF and PGZ a letter-of-understanding (LOU) to “intensively negotiate [for] collaboration in the field of ammunitions procurement, supplies and related technology to … POF.”

However, PGZ evidently senses a greater opportunity in the Pakistan Army’s potential need for new small arms, for which POF had also an LOU with the Czech firearms maker Česká zbrojovka (CZ). The status of the program is not clear, but POF’s recent visit to PGZ would suggest that POF is still engaged on the matter of transitioning from the Heckler & Koch G-3 to a new assault rifle platform.


FBLR MSBS – Photo source: Defence24

Like the CZ-807, the FB MSBS is a modular design. It can be built to fire either 5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm or 7.62x51mm. Derived from a common platform, modular rifles enable manufacturers to fulfill the needs of distinct markets without having to maintain separate product manufacturing lines. Adopting a design of this sort would enable POF to produce rifles tailored to the specific needs of Army infantry – be it those engaged in counterinsurgency or conventional operations – the paramilitary forces or law-enforcement.

POF is $250 million U.S. in funding over the next five years to modernize its production facilities. In October, POF informed the Pakistani Senate’s Standing Committee on Defence Production that 58% of POF’s machinery is on average 30 years of age. The obsolescence of its manufacturing line is negatively affecting POF’s cost-of-production and efficiency, resulting in challenges for its domestic mandate and its commercial and defence export objectives.

In terms of policy, the governments of Pakistan and Poland have mutually called for strengthening defence ties. In September, Pakistan’s Minister of Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain met with Poland’s Minister of National Defence Antoni Macierewicz. Following the meeting, the their intent to “further enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all areas and particularly in the defence sector.”