Pakistan Air Force has inducted the first of the four Saab-2000 Erieye Airborne Early Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft in its fleet.

With this acquisition from Sweden, Pakistan on Tuesday became the second country in the region after India to have inducted the sophisticated surveillance aircraft in its air force.

The aircraft is fitted with the latest technology to detect aircraft flying at high and medium altitudes. With state-of-the-art system, it is also capable of detecting objects flying at lower levels over land and sea at extended ranges. The system is also capable of detecting surface targets over sea.

The Erieye system provides 300 degree coverage and has an effective detection range of only 300 km to 350 km. It uses a pulse Doppler radar with a fixed, wedge-shaped antenna.

“By virtue of these features, Pakistan Air Force would be able to boost its operational capability manifold by achieving requisite early warning for efficient and meaningful air defence of its airspace,” an official statement said.

As compared to Pakistan’s AWAC system, the Indian Phalcon system provides tactical surveillance of airborne and surface targets and helps gather signal intelligence. It is also capable of tracking fighter planes, missiles and ground forces from a distance of 400 kilometres and in all weather conditions.

Pakistan also has plans to acquire four larger advanced warning and control aircraft systems from China, according to agency reports. – Brahmand

Choosing French Submarines over German? : Rational decision or risking Pakistani defence?
By Farzana Shah

A German team is due in few days probably on August 5th according to sources to look into possibility of signing the accord for provision of U-214 submarines to Pakistan Navy.

However reports appearing in the media suggest that the deal may hit snags due to change of mind in the current Pakistani government over purchase of German submarines.

In 2008 Pakistan Navy under chief of navel staff Admiral Muhammad Afzal Tahir made efforts for including German 214 Class submarines in its fleet and owing to Navy’s persistent efforts, the government had approved plans for acquisition of these submarines to be built at Karachi Shipyard under transfer of technology programme.

The details were later worked out between the two countries when a Pakistan Navy delegation visited Germany in April.

However recently quoting Pakistani government sources, the Financial Times Deutschland says President Asif Zardari may overrule his military’s preference for the German subs to take up a “better offer” from France.

But what better submarines France can offer to Pakistan? That is a question to ponder because France has no better submarines to offer Pakistan at the moment whereas French are indeed not ready to offer us nuclear submarine.

What France has in store? :

There are three options 1. Scorpion, 2. Marlin and 3. Barracuda submarines. But again the Scorpions are not superior to U 214, neither these will be having any benefit for Pakistan because French company DCN is already going to provide Scorpion to Indian Navy ahead of Pakistan.

U-214 is way better than French design given to India. Marlin is just on drawing board and will take forever to go to prototype stage and then test and evaluation and finally induction into Pakistan Navy meanwhile India will have all its Scorpion in sea. DCN (Direction des Constructions Navales ), France will not be able to fulfill Pakistani order ahead of Indians. The success of Marlin, or weather or not it will be better than U-214 German sub cannot be predicted. Currently, U-214 for the best non-nuclear submarine in the world, and our friends in Turkey will soon produce it at home with the license of production.

Now the only option for Pakistan will be to ask for Barracuda submarine but it is unlikely that France will sell us nuclear submarine. Barracuda is a nuclear powered submarine and France does not currently allow the sale of nuclear-propelled submarines.

Despite having French Agosta-90B submarines, the Pakistani Navy opted for purchasing German Torpedoes for fitting to Agosta-90B due to the superior German technology.

Pakistan Navy needs German submarines because the German U-214 subs are far better than the French Scorpion.

If the current government goes for inferior quality French submarines then it will indeed give weight to suspicion of many Pakistanis who see bribes as main factor behind any irrational decisions viz viz defence deals.

Already the Pakistani senators have demanded in an incamera briefing from Pakistani Naval chief in the Senate.

Whereas some eyebrows have also been raised over the fact that foreign secretary Salman Bashir in the current government of Zardari is the brother of Naval Chief, Noman Bashir and there are also some reports that PIA chairman is going to be named Pakistani envoy to France. Some political pundits see such an appointment an attempt to muster a deal for French submarines.

On the other hand submarine acquisition project (SMAP) a group composed of Naval officers who have recommended U-214 submarines over other options after extensive study has been disbanded and the officers have been posted out at different stations.

Though earlier the Germans have delayed the deal due to political situation of Pakistan but can kickoff cutting of hull for first submarine immediately after signing the deal.

In such a situation going for something which does not fulfill the requirement of Pakistan Navy would be tantamount to putting the national defence at risk.

There is no reason not to go for German submarines specially when Berlin even granted federal export credit guarantees worth nearly $1.4 billion for the purchase of the same.

Farzana Shah is a Pakistani journalist based at Peshawar.

The keel laying ceremony of the F-22 P Frigate was held at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW) here on Thursday. Federal Minister for Defence Production, Abdul Qayyum Khan Jatoi, was the chief guest. Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Noman Bashir, was also present on the occasion.

It was pointed out that Pakistan Navy has achieved another significant milestone towards self-reliance in defence production and that after successful completion of Agosta submarine project and indigenous construction of various other naval platform, Pakistan Navy has now successfully stepped in the domain of shipbuilding with the construction of F-22 P Frigates, In collaboration with Peoples Republic of China.

In 2005 an agreement was signed between Pakistan and China for construction of four F-22 P Frigates under the contract of Transfer of Technology.
As per the contract, three ships are to be built in China whereas the fourth ship would be constructed at Karachi Shipyard.

First of the Frigates PNS Zulfiquar has recently been inducted in Pakistan Navy Fleet whereas two ships are at different stages of construction in China and will be handed over to Pakistan in year 2010.
The construction work of the fourth ship is now getting under way at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works and its keel laying ceremony was held here on Thursday at the KSEW.

It is expected to be completed by year 2013, it was further pointed out.

The F-22 P Frigate is a Sword Class Ship equipped with long range surface-ta-surface and surface-to-air missiles, depth charges, torpedoes, latest automatic 76 mm guns, Close-in-Weapon System (CIWS), sensors, radars, SONARS, Electronic Warfare and advanced Command and Control Systems.

The ship is 123 meter long and has a displacement of about 3,000 tons. It also carries Anti Submarine Z9EC helicopters.

It was also pointed out that our strategic and conventional capabilities are focused towards legitimate defence and promotion of peace in the region.
Induction of F-22 P Frigate in Naval Fleet would certainly boost our conventional power.

This construction project would also contribute in enhancing country’s shipbuilding capabilities. – APP

The Saab 2000 AEW&C airborne early warning and control aircraft is a variant of the Saab 2000 regional transport turboprop aircraft equipped with the spine-mounted Saab Systems Erieye PS-890 side-looking reconnaissance radar. The first customer for the Saab 2000 AEW&C, the Pakistan Fiza’ya (the Pakistan Air Force), placed the order on Saab, based in Stockholm, in June 2006. The first of five aircraft was rolled out in April 2008 and is scheduled to enter service in 2009. Thailand announced the selection of the Saab 2000 AEW&C in June 2007. The aircraft, fully equipped for airborne early warning and control, can also be used for national security missions, border control, airborne command and control, disaster management coordination and for emergency air traffic control.

Saab 2000 construction

Saab Surveillance Systems is the lead contractor for the Saab 2000 AEW&C programme. Saab Aerotech is responsible for the development and modification of the Saab 2000 regional aircraft to the AEW&C configuration. Six other Saab business units are also contracted for major elements of the programme. The outer wing sections have been strengthened, as has the roof of the fuselage, to accommodate the weight of the Erieye antenna and its housing. The vertical tail area has been increased to provide improved stabilisation.

Main cabin

The main cabin is fitted with five mission operator consoles on the starboard side. The windows on the starboard side of the main cabin have been removed. The cabin is air-conditioned and fitted with an active noise cancellation system. The aft section of the main cabin accommodates fuel tanks and mission equipment. Two auxiliary fuel tanks are installed on the starboard side in the mid fuselage section immediately aft of the mission consoles. The mission operator consoles perform: system and sensor management; mission planning and simulation; track data processing; asset management and control; identification and allocation. The display systems incorporate digital maps and use high-resolution flat-panel colour displays and touch input display controls. The main cabin aft section also accommodates the electronic warfare equipment, the Erieye equipment and the Erieye power units.

Radar

Saab Microwave Systems (formerly Ericsson) is the lead contractor for the Erieye surveillance radar. The Erieye radar is operational on a number of other aircraft including the Saab 340, Embraer R-99 and Embraer EMB-145. Erieye is an active phased array pulse Doppler radar operating in the 3.1GHz to 3.3GHz band. The radar is operational from three minutes after take-off and during climb and provides an effective surveillance area of 500,000km². The Erieye radar has an instrumental range of 450km and detection range of 350km against a fighter aircraft sized target in dense hostile electronic warfare environments and at low target altitudes. The system is capable of tracking multiple air and sea target over the horizon and provides above 20km altitude coverage, 360° coverage and has sea surveillance capability. The radar incorporates an identification friend or foe interrogator. The system comprises an active phased array pulse Doppler radar with a secondary surveillance radar. The fixed dual sided electronically scanned antenna array is installed in a rectangular housing, dorsally mounted above the fuselage.

Electronic warfare suite

The aircraft’s electronic warfare suite is based on the Saab Avitronics HES-21 electronic support measures (ESM) and self-protection suite. The HES-21 also provides a ground-based support system (EGSS), which provides mission data for the aircraft electronic warfare system and for analysis of recorded data.

Electronic support measures

The electronic support measures (ESM) system comprises digital narrow band and wide band receivers and associated antennae, providing close to 100 % probability of intercept (POI). The digital receiver is equipped with interferometer antenna arrays. The ESM obtains the electronic order of battle (EOB) data and intercepts, characterises and identifies signals, defines their direction of arrival, generating and displaying warning information. The ESM system operates autonomously and allows real time ESM analysis and presentation to the ESM operator on board the aircraft. ESM data is recorded during missions for post mission tactical and technical analysis. Information is transferred to other onboard systems including the command and control system and the radio data link-controller. The radar receivers cover low band (7GHz to 2GHz), mid band (2GHz to 18GHz) and high band (28GHz to 40GHz). The digital RF receiver provides very high sensitivity and selectivity and uses fast Fourier transforms (FFT) and channelisation signal processing techniques. The ESM’s wide band and narrow band receivers provide 360° coverage, and close to 100% probability of intercept. The system provides high sensitivity and selectivity in dense and hostile signal environments.

Self-protection system

The self-protection system (SPS) comprises: defensive aids control system, radar warning, laser warning, missile approach warning and chaff and flare dispenser systems. The self-protection suite provides selection and, in automatic mode, the initiation of the chaff and countermeasures sequences. The laser warning system is based on the Saab Avitronics LWS-310 laser warner operating in the 0.5 to 17 microns wavelength bands. Spatial and spectral coverage is provided by an array of three sensors on each side of the aircraft. The missile launch and approach warner (MAW) is based on the Saab Avitronics MAW-300, which can simultaneously monitor and track up to eight threats. It has four sensors, two on each side, and each with 110° azimuthal coverage to provide the overlapped 360° spatial coverage. The chaff and flare dispensing system (CFDS) comprises a dispenser control unit, (CFDC) with a cockpit mounted display and control panel, defensive aids suite computer with a threat library database, two BOL electromechanical dispensers and six BOP pyrotechnical dispensers. The BOL dispenser is a high-capacity, 160-cartridges, electro-mechanical chaff dispenser. The BOL dispensers are installed in the fairings under the wingtip-mounted radar warning pods. The dispenser incorporates vortex generators which provide chaff blooming characteristics and a chaff cloud Doppler response. The BOP dispenser is a pyrotechnic dispenser carrying Nato standard rectangular cartridges or magazines of 39 1in² cartridges. The dispenser has the capability to dispense different ammunition types concurrently. The BOP dispensers are housed on each side of the underside of the fuselage to the aft of the wings. Engine The aircraft is fitted with two Rolls-Royce AE 2100A turboprop engines developing 3,095kW.