A better bang for the buck

Although Pakistan is a significant manufacturer of weapons itself it looks externally for some sophisticated procurements, and traditionally it has looked towards America — but not so much in these changing days. As the quality of Pak-US relations has eroded so has the US role as a supplier of weapons as detailed in a recent article in the Financial Times. Today Pakistan is looking towards China and Russia both for purchasing and for partnerships in manufacture.

America is no longer a reliable supplier and anyway the prices of some of their items have increased beyond the purse of Pakistan. An F-16 is now $700 million, up from $270 million and it makes far more economic as well as military sense to develop the JF-17 Thunder aircraft with the Chinese, the more so as the joint venture is close to rivalling the American product in terms of service envelope. It is a potential revenue generator for Pakistan and China and solves at a stroke the issue of spares and servicing.

Russian attack helicopters are now in the inventory and six Chinese-built attack submarines are going to enhance our capacity as a counterweight to India in the Indian Ocean. If America is unhappy at these developments then it only has itself to blame. The US was unwilling to share advanced technologies fearing they would be sold on, but now China has in large part achieved parity with the US technologically and is happy to share what it has learned with Pakistan. Pakistan itself has moved forward and manufactures very capable battlefield drones that it now deploys in a range of surveillance and counter-terror roles.

The days when America was armourer to the world are fading, as is its regional influence. Pakistan is forging alliances that are closer to home and although they come with strings — everything does — they are easier to service and considerably more flexible and financially advantageous. If this is uncomfortable for Uncle Sam then tough. You made the bed — you lie in it.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2018.

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