Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Tahir Rafiq Butt sits inside the cockpit of a fighter aircraft and is briefed on the systems during IDEAS 2012. PHOTO: APP/FILE
"Airpower can achieve much more in a short span of time if employed with clear understanding of its capabilities," he said in an interview to Defence Jane's Weekly.
"Its inherent flexibility has enabled nation states to successfully deter their conventional adversaries as well as prosecute irregular outfits.”
The air chief said that while it always had to be prepared for the external threat, it now had to reconfigure itself to deal with an internal threat too.
“We are now faced with a definite two-front scenario: external as well as internal.”
While claiming that the PAF has proven itself to learn quickly on the job, Butt conceded that it did take them some time to get up to speed with the new challenge.
“While we have always prepared for the traditional and ominous external threat, the new predicament did take us a while to get up to speed with, but ...we did manage to learn on the job quickly and are very efficiently supporting our ground troops in all their operations against militants and terrorists."
PAF seeks to enhance JF-17 capabilities
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is seeking to enhance its latest multi-role fighter, trying to enable the JF-17 aircraft to refuel in mid-air, even though it remains open to procuring the more established and technologically advanced F-16 fighter jets.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafiq Butt in an interview to Defence Jane’s Weekly said that the PAF was enhancing the JF-17 Thunder, jointly produced by Pakistan and China, and its flight time through the Ilyushin Il-78 air tankers, with the tests set to be completed by the end of the summer.
"The ground tests have been very successful and I am satisfied. The air-to-air (refueling test) will be done successfully by end of this summer.”
Pakistan had acquired refueling air tankers Ilyushin II-78 from Ukraine back in 2010. The tankers are now synchronising with medium-to-high tech multi-role aircraft in the PAF fleet, enhancing their capability to stay in the air for longer periods.
"The JF-17 program has been an excellent project to pursue, owing to the hard work put in by our engineers, technicians and test pilots," the Air Chief said, adding "all this would also not have been possible without the cooperation of China."
The JF-17 Thunder programme was jointly pursued by Pakistan and China to give Pakistan a third generation mutli-role aircraft that will replace its ageing fleet of French-made Mirage aircrafts and supplement its powerful, yet limited US built F-16 fighters. The PAF hoped that with an attractive price tag, the JF-17’s capability of carrying a variety of weapons, it would in time " become the PAF's mainstay."
Butt said that the PAF plans to induct between 200 and 250 JF-17 aircraft in an airforce which has an estimated strength of 400 fighter aircrafts.
Possibility for more F-16 buys
The PAF has come under pressure recently after traditional and conventional rival India stepped up efforts to upgrade its airforce last year with a major order for fighters made by Rafale.
The most advanced aircraft in the PAF fleet which can match this is the Lockheed Martin made F-16. Most of the F-16 fleet that the PAF had till early 2000s were Block 32 A and B aircraft purchased in the 1980s. It wasn’t till the late 2000s that the US Congress eased restrictions for Pakistan to upgrade the older aircrafts and purchases for new Block 52 D and C aircraft.
The Air Chief said that PAF has also been maintaining and operating a sizeable fleet of US F-16 aircraft for a considerable time and its air and ground crews were fairly experienced in handling the weapon system.
"The PAF received its last batch of F-16s in the recent past and even now there are US Congressional clearances available for the provision of additional F-16 aircraft. Owing to requirements, compulsions in the future, there exists a possibility of acquisition of additional F-16 aircraft,” he said.
But with the F-16s touted by some experts as an antiquated weapons platform in light of fourth generation aircraft being developed in the US, Russia and China and recent purchases made by India, Butt said that options are still open on the purchase of high tech weapons systems.
Chinese AWACs
Answering a question regarding the induction of Chinese-built ZDK-03 airborne early warning and control (AWACs) aircraft, Butt said it has so far shown that the platform’s capabilities work well over sea, plains and mountainous terrain.
Pakistan has four US built P-3C Orion AWACs aircraft. At least two of the aircrafts in Pakistan’s fleet were destroyed in the 2011 attack on the Mehran airbase in Karachi. The US agreed to replace the two destroyed aircraft.
COMMENTS (16)
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@Omair Khalid: It is at one of the two fronts - middle of the town, where the terrorists are.
@Bilal: "But our air force is still holding its ground" Maybe that is the problem - they are supposed to get airborne!
Pakistan needs to be realistic atleast now and stop competing with India which is a real Democracy with progressive aspirations. Pakistan on the other hand would be better off trying to emulate the Indian model of cohesiveness where many groups groups coexist inspite of various differences. Pakistan and India cannot be eternal enemies. We have been bitter enemies and also seen times of bonhomie. The general public gets swayed by events on That Day and their sentiments fluctuate just like the Stock market. Pakistan needs to be vary of its internal threat on 2 fronts- the BLA & the TTP.
PAF must prepare for a two-front situation in war on terror: Air Chief"" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is furtehr to the report that the TTP has acquired a major air force with extensive capability.
is this fighter standing on a bus stop ???
To all the morons bashing PAF,
Pakistan Air Force is considered one of the best trained and equipped air forces in the world. Our defense budget is higher as a % of our GDP, but in absolute terms, its very small compared to our enemies.
We have an enemy that is SIX times bigger in resources. But our air force is still holding its ground. Our internal enemy the TTP, LEJ etc have human networks all over the country, thanks to Saudi funded madressahs and millions of Zia-ul-Haq brainwashed dummies.
There is no doubt that at the moment we are taking a beating from these rag tag groups which we once nurtured. But things are changing for good now. Nawaz administration is serious in taking these miscreants head on. But it will take time to completely destroy them, as it took 20 years to create them!
So for once, use your dead brains and be thankful to these guys for the job they are doing.
please buy more weapons..............
When was the last time the air force used any of its weapons when there was an invasion of army bases, jails, and other top security areas? By grabbing more and more resources of our poor third world country what new weapons would they need to face the fanatic terrorist enemy? There is a saying “either use it or lose it”. While we did not use the latest planes in our arsenal the ill-equipped terrorists destroyed a couple of them on the ground before they can take off!
Pakistan air force needs 500 more latest fighter jets, 200 more attack helicopters, 5000 air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, 50 air refueling tankers, 50 AWACS, 50 Orion maritime surveillance aircraft, 2000 ground based radars with ground-to-air missiles, 5000 strategic missiles and 6000 nuclear bombs to counter the threat from the east, west, north and south. Also, six air-craft carrier groups with 250 fighter jets and 25 nuclear submarines loaded with 100 nuclear missiles are needed to counter any threat from the sea.
To support all these needed defense equipment, the defense budget must be increased immediately by $50B.
@sure?: You should ask where were they when the Seal's came calling?? Snoring with their toys in hand???
How about you first prepare to fight terror on one fron - East ( LeT, JeM) or West ( Taliban ) . Your pick.
The air chief needs to workout and loose that soft belly. There should be some standard of fitness for all armed forces personnel.
Ha ha....this is a joke!! When the Indian IAF chief made this statement recently there was some chance of it being taken seriously
What he means is that, with the US withdrawal, Pakistan must gear up to run a terror campaign on two fronts.
Yeah, buy more F16s and AWACS systems from China, Sweden or Tmbuktu and when we the hungry & nacked & the illiterate / ignorant of the land (99%) we'd think about these toys that you buy at our cost to please yourselves while the enemies attack with impunity a 'KAMRA' a 'MEHRAN' or a 'HeadQuarter' of this and that or the other of your resting places.