Abbottabad Commission: Air chief questioned over Pakistan airspace violation

The commission held a detailed interactive session with Chief of Air Staff Rao Qamar Suleman.

ISLAMABAD:

The Abbottabad Commission, formed to probe the May 2 US raid last year, questioned on Thursday the alleged negligence of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in failing to intercept the intrusion into Pakistan’s airspace.

The commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Javed Iqbal, was holding a detailed interactive session with Chief of Air Staff Rao Qamar Suleman.

According to sources, the air chief faced direct questions from the members of the commission regarding the May 2, during which US special forces captured and killed al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden in a unilateral operation.

The air chief responded by explaining that US helicopters involved in the operation entered Pakistani territory using Nap-of-the-Earth (NOE) flight.

“NOE is used to minimise detection by hostile aircraft, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance, ground-based radar, or intended targets.”

NOE is a type of a very low-altitude flight. A high flying aircraft can be detected by air defense systems at a long range, giving the systems time to react and alert missile systems and fighter aircraft. Using NOE flight, aircraft may avoid hostile radar coverage and go by undetected.

Sources also quoted the air chief as telling the panel: “Prior information from intelligence agencies regarding the Abbottabad operation could have helped a lot in mounting retaliation.”

The air chief also informed the commission about the latest air defence capabilities attained by the PAF, particularly after the Abbottabad raid and the Nato airstrike on a Pakistani check post in Mohmand agency on November 26 last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2012.