Pakistan To Receive Swedish ERIEYE AEW&C System And SAAB Aircrafts

July 14, 2004: Pakistan has taken a big leap to strengthen its fast depleting air power by securing a nod from Sweden to sell Islamabad an Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&CS), informed sources said. This state-of-the-art system will also augment Pakistan Navy’s existing potential for maritime and tactical surveillance, the sources added. Close to final approval is Pakistan’s decision to acquire 14 SAAB 2000 aircraft from Sweden. Seven of these aircraft will be dedicated for the PAF’s AEW&CS while the remaining seven will be acquired by the PIA to replace its fleet of Fokker aircraft, which have already been grounded, the sources said.

Several Fokker-related incidents, including the last year’s crash that killed the then chief of air staff, air marshal Mushaf Ali Mir, and 17 other PAF officials, the PIA had decided last year to sell its fleet of 11 aircraft and replace them with compatible ones. The seven SAAB 2000 that will replace the ageing Fokkers on the PIA’s heavily subsidized socio-economic routes will help the airline save about Rs 200 million on the subsidized routes that cost the PIA about Rs 400 million every year. Because of the composite nature of the deal, the PIA would pay only $45 million for the seven SAAB aircraft as against the $98 million for the French ATR and $91 million for the American Dash-8 that will cost about $98 million. For its part the Swedish government has provided a guarantee for the smooth supply of SAAB spare parts as long as the aircraft is flown anywhere in the world, the PIA sources confirmed. Six hundred of such planes are being flown all over the world.

The SAAB aircraft for the PAF will be equipped with ERIEYE AEW&C system which can manage airborne early warning; intercept communication; airspace management; surveillance and control borders; detect illegal shipment of weapons and drugs; and coordinate search and rescue operations. It will be two years before the PAF receives its first AEW&C system. The deal would cost Pakistan about $1.7 billion (approximately Rs 90 billion) during the next five years, and it will constitute the biggest defence purchase by the Musharraf administration. During his recently concluded visit to Sweden, President Pervez Musharraf is understood to have held extensive discussions with the Swedish leadership on Pakistan’s interest in the AEW&CS, sources familiar with the discussions in Sweden said.

Sweden had earlier turned down Pakistan’s requests on the reasons ranging from democracy to child labour. Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Sa’adat Kaleem will be visiting Sweden to further negotiate the deal later this month. The sources said the AEW&CS would not only help Pakistan to counter-balance the Indian acquisition of the Israeli Phalcon airborne surveillance system, it will boast the Pakistan Air Force’s and the Navy’s reaction capabilities by providing early and specific warnings. In the Rs 7.6 trillion defence budget announced this week, the Indian government has earmarked the largest sum for country’s air force by committing to buy new combat aircraft, airborne warning and control systems and missiles during the current year.

"The AEW&CS from Sweden, F-7 from China, upgraded Mirages from France and fresh supplies of Mirage spare parts from Libya would help the PAF meet the air challenge from our arch rival," commented a retired PAF air marshal. Pakistan had first shown interest in the purchase of AWE&CS from Sweden in 1995 when the then Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, had visited Stockholm and had requested the then Swedish premier, Olf Palme, to approve the sale. "For nine years we have tried to secure these aircraft from SAAB/Erricson," said an official source.

While the PAF made a determined effort to induct the SAAB AEW&CS into its fleet, but in its process to replace the Fokkers, the PIA tested the SAAB 2000, fitted with engine from Allison/Rolls Royce ATR and Dash-8 fitted with engines from Pratt and Whitney. With the PAF’s deal for SAAB-based AEW&C almost complete, it is now almost certain that the PIA would approve a strong internal recommendation for the SAAB 2000. "It makes more sense because the SAAB will be setting facility for the maintenance of the PAF’s SAAB 2000 in the country," said an official. "It’s much feasible, both financially as well as technically, to have a combined maintenance facility for the PAF’s and the PIA’s SAAB fleet."

PakistanDefence

At 120 million dollars US apiece, the Erieye is an excellent alternative to the bigger but more expensive Phalcon.

As an archipelagic country, AEW&C aircraft would be very useful PAF asset.

swit bro ;) fighters first before Erieye

pakistan is also a developing country and yet the are able to make a tank of their own



:armyneutral:

yoshino are you japanese? :armycool:

the reason is necisity pakistan is always under threat by india so they have no choice but to work hard to manufacture their own weapons but they havr to ask the assistance of china to be able to do their weapons programs a success

--Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Ga., is being awarded a $8,400,000 firm fixed-price contract.
This acquisition is for the purchase of seven C-130E aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force. This effort supports foreign military sales to the Pakistan Air Force.
Total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by December 2004. Solicitation began May 2004 and negotiations were completed August 2004.
The Headquarters Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8504-04-C-0006).


--Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., is being awarded a $55,587,085 firm fixed price contract modification.
This acquisition is for the procurement of Programmed Depot Maintenance, modification and upgrade of six C-130E aircraft, formerly owned by the Royal Australian Air Force, purchased under separate contract by the Pakistan Air Force.
This effort supports 100% foreign military sales to Pakistan Air Force.
The location of performance is Lockheed Martin Services, Greenville, S.C. Total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by October 2005. Negotiations were completed August 2004.
The Headquarters Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8504-04-C-0009, PZ0001).

link

By Adam Entous

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - President Bush agreed on Friday to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in a major policy shift rewarding a key ally in the war on terrorism and angering neighboring India.

Bush, on vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and explained his decision to move forward on the sale, which has been blocked for 15 years to punish Pakistan for its nuclear weapons program.

Administration officials said the change reflected Islamabad's role helping the United States in the region after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Singh expressed "great disappointment" and warned Bush that the move "could have negative consequences for India's security environment," said Sanjaya Baru, spokesman for the prime minister's office.

The Bush administration played down India's security concerns, and signaled a willingness to sell sophisticated fighters to India if it chooses to buy them in the future, but made no firm commitments. A U.S. official said India is contemplating a "very large" purchase of fighters, including U.S.-built F-16s and possibly F-18s.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan have fought three wars and were on the brink of another in 2002, but tensions have eased since they began talks last year aimed at ending half a century of enmity.

"To the extent that we can contribute to Pakistan's sense of security and India's sense of security, that will contribute to regional stability," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

A senior Bush administration official said initial estimates called for the sale of 24 F-16s to Pakistan. But the State Department said the number was "undetermined" and that Washington has set no fixed limits on how many aircraft Islamabad can buy.

Ereli said the F-16s would be newly built and that negotiations would now begin with the Pakistani government and the U.S. Congress on the details. The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin Corp., the largest U.S. defense contractor.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;j...storyID=8005307

well the pakistan wants to buy 70 F16

as far as i know

f16 c/d block 52

f16 a/b upgrade to mlu which they have

may be get more f16 a/b with mlu

Pakistan's New Helicopters and How to Use Them

May 3, 2005: In the last year, Pakistan has received over 70 UH-1 transport helicopters from the United States, as well over a hundred of night vision goggles (NVGs). Pakistan has always had a dozen or so UH-1s, and is thus familiar with the helicopters. The UH-1's the United States has sent are used, but in good condition. The U.S. Army is phasing out the UH-1, so the ones that are in the best shape are being shipped to Pakistan. Along with the helicopters and NVGs (Night Vision Goggles), has come training on how to perform air assault operations, both day and night. This is a capability the Pakistanis want to use against tribesmen along the Afghan border. The tribal gunmen do not usually operate at night, and can be more easily defeated with air mobile operations. Normally, when one group of tribesmen are attacked, they quickly radio for reinforcements, which arrive soon in pickup trucks and other vehicles. Often the tribal gunmen will start moving the minute they see army trucks traveling through the area. Going after a compound or village full of tribesmen via a helicopter assault defeats the tribal reinforcement system. If you can go in at night, you are likely to encounter less resistance, and be out of there with your prisoners before more armed tribesmen arrive, or even know you were there. This capability gives the army a psychological edge over the tribesmen as well, which is important in a region where much of the conflict is bluff and bluster. The American trainers were needed mainly to provide useful tips on large scale helicopters movements, and the use of the NVGs by the helicopter pilots. Night navigation in a helicopter can be tricky, even with the NVGs, but the Pakistani crews got up to speed quickly.

US salvoes across South Asia

Pakistan:

- Bush administration to release advanced F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan
- between 2003 and now, the US had given to Pakistan six C-130 military transport aircraft ($75 million grant); six Aerostat surveillance radars ($US155 million sale); 12 radars and 40 Bell transport helicopters ($300 million sale); military radio systems ($78 million sale).
- Proposed sales include eight P-3C maritime reconnaissance aircraft, six Phalanx ship protection weapons systems and 2,000 TOW anti-tank missiles (worth up to $1.2 billion), and the recently proposed sale of 300 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and 60 Harpoon anti-ship missiles (worth $226 million).

Even the deals marked as "sale" may be partially or fully funded by the $1.5 billion annual US military assistance to Pakistan. It must be noted that apart from aid, the Pentagon's budget includes $100 million per month to be given to Pakistan as "compensation" for its "war on terror" efforts.

- the decommissioned US Navy vessel USS Fletcher, which is slated to be transferred to Pakistan on a grant basis. This means that the vessel is essentially given to Pakistan free of charge, with the latter having to pay only for transportation charges.

The Fletcher, ship number DD-992, is a Spruance-class destroyer. It would cost Pakistan an estimated $40 million annually just to operate the vessel.

India:

- the Austin-class Amphibious Transport Dock USS Trenton. One Indian observer bluntly called the Trenton "a piece of junk". To add to this, the US wants India to pay top dollar for this ship, unlike the grant given to Pakistan.
- the US was considering the sale of the Aegis system and maritime patrol aircraft to India as a measure that would help Indian ships "monitor" China's activities in the Indian neighborhood and the strategic Malacca Strait.
- potential US-Indian military deals worth up to $15 billion in the next five to six years. While the Indian Air Force's tender for 126 fighter jets is rumored to be the prime component of the package,
- sales of the Aegis system and the Patriot PAC-3 missile system are not said to be far behind.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GH04Df01.html

Pakistan Acquires U.S. P-3C Surveillance Aircraft
By REUTERS, ISLAMABAD

Pakistan, a key ally in the U.S.-led war on terrorism, said on Wednesday that it had acquired eight P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft from the United States, which would help boost its naval capabilities.

The Pentagon notified the U.S. Congress of the plan to supply the planes to Pakistan in November, raising concerns in Pakistan's rival and neighbor India which has since considered the aircraft for its own military.

The Pentagon said at the time the aircraft would improve Pakistan's border security and its ability to restrict movement of militants.

However, Pakistan Navy spokesman Captain Aamir Naeem Baig said the aircraft were designed for maritime surveillance and could not be used for chasing militants along the land border with Afghanistan, where Islamic guerrillas are most active.

A statement from the Pakistan Navy said the aircraft, worth up to $970 million, were being provided free by the United States and would be fitted with modern avionics and missions systems by the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp.

The Bush administration also approved shipment of two F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in July after Washington lifted a two-decade ban on the supply of the planes to Pakistan.

The policy charge was in recognition of Pakistan's role in helping the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks on U.S. cities in 2001.

Admiral Shahid Karimullah, Pakistan's chief of naval staff, said the Orions would "add a new dimension to the offensive punch of Pakistan Navy fleet".

Pakistan's fleet of P-3Cs now stands at 10 with the induction of eight new planes.

http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=1069726&C=airwar

Pakistan - M109A5 155mm Self-propelled Howitzers
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/c...U&modele=jdc_34


(Source: US Defense Security Cooperation Agency; issued Dec. 16, 2005)


On 16 December 2005, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan of 115 M109A5 155mm self-propelled howitzers as well as associated equipment and services. The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as $56 million.

The Government of Pakistan has requested a possible sale of 115 M109A5 155mm self-propelled howitzers, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, Quality Assurance Team, U. S. Government logistics personnel services, and other related elements of logistics support. The estimated cost is $56 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be a key ally in the global war on terrorism.

Pakistan currently operates M109A2 self-propelled howitzers and will use this new procurement to re-equip existing units and retire older artillery pieces, modernizing the Army’s fire support capability. Pakistan will use these howitzers to improve its current fleet of ground defense equipment. The proposed equipment will assist Pakistan in improving its internal command and control of the mountain range bordering its country. Pakistan will have no difficulty absorbing the howitzers into its armed forces.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not affect the basic military balance in the region.

No contractor is involved for this purchase of the howitzers. Equipment is considered long supply and is no longer utilized by the U.S. Government.

There will be a Technical Assistance Field Team (TAFT) and U.S. Government Quality Assurance Team for one year to check out the equipment. A TAFT will participate for two-week intervals twice annually to participate in program management and technical reviews.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.

This notice of a potential sale is required by law; it does not mean that the sale has been concluded.

-ends-

It might be part of the package previously planned:

http://pdff.sytes.net/index.php?showtopic=2045&hl=

Pakistan tests cruise missile for second time

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan successfully tested a nuclear-capable cruise missile for the second time, the military said on Tuesday.

Pakistan first tested the Babur, or Hatf VII, cruise missile in August last year, marking a significant boost to its arsenal.

"All phases of the planned trajectory were extremely successful and the missile impacted with pinpoint accuracy," a military statement, adding that President Pervez Musharraf witnessed the test at an undisclosed location.

The military said the test was "ground-launched," but added the missile "will also be capable of being placed in submarines and on surface ship."

"The Babur, which has near stealth capabilities, is a low-flying, terrain hugging missile with high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features," it said.

"With a range of 500 km, it can carry all types of warheads."

Pakistan's arch-rival India already has cruise missiles that can be launched from submarine.
Reuters

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=33332

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=57765

Pakistan to use mines to stop militants

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer Tue Dec 26, 12:53 PM ET

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan said Tuesday it will plant land mines and build a fence on parts of its long, rugged frontier with Afghanistan to meet criticism it does too little to stop Taliban and al-Qaida guerrillas from crossing the border.

Relations have been souring between the neighbors, which are key U.S. allies in its war on terror groups. Afghan and NATO officials contend militants operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan, but the Islamabad government insists it does all it can to stop them.

The plan did little to ease those frictions.

Afghanistan quickly objected to the idea of a fence along the 1,510-mile border, whose demarcation is disputed by the two nations. But Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan said his country would be acting on its own territory and did not need Afghan consent.

Khan told reporters Pakistan also will send unspecified military reinforcements to the frontier, joining about 80,000 soldiers already in the country's northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

In addition, he said, officials will "strictly monitor" Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan, following claims by Afghan officials that the camps are used as bases by Taliban militants.

Khan did not specify when work would begin on the border fence, saying only that the army has been ordered to determine the needs "for selectively fencing and mining the Pakistan-Afghanistan border."

Afghanistan has rejected previous offers by Pakistan to fence and mine the border. The Kabul government disputes the border, known as the Durand Line, that was imposed by Britain during its colonial rule of the subcontinent a century ago.

"Fencing or mining the border is neither helpful nor practical. That's why we are against it. The border is not where the problem lies," said Khaleeq Ahmed, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

Karzai has become increasingly outspoken in charging that Pakistan still supports the Taliban militia that Pakistani leaders once backed but formally abandoned after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Insurgents have stepped up attacks over the past year, triggering the worst violence since the hardline Taliban was ousted with U.S. help five years ago and threatening the shaky rule of Karzai, Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.

Pakistan is likely to draw complaints from its own people about trying to seal the border. The frontier region is inhabited on both sides by Pashtun tribespeople with strong family and clan ties who now travel freely across the border.

The plan for land mines also will cause concern.

Afghanistan is one of the world's countries worst affected by the weapons, with land mines killing and maiming thousands of civilians during past quarter-century of wars, and there is a strong international movement seeking to outlaw mines.

Khan said Pakistan was aware of global concerns about land mines, but added that the country is not a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty that bans their use.

"There is an extraordinary situation and we need extraordinary measures to respond to this," he said.

Talat Masood, a former Pakistani general who is now a prominent military analyst, said Pakistan had grown "very frustrated" over the accusations from Afghanistan and its NATO allies that it is doing little to prevent cross-border movements by militants.

Pakistan "wants to take such measures, but it's not that easy to define the areas of cross-border insurgency and mine them," Masood said. "It would be a huge undertaking. The problem is demarcation of the border as well."

___

Associated Press writers Jason Straziuso in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061226/ap_on_...n_afghan_border

afganistan also made a objection to this fencing
oo HH man i wonder what they want
the NEW GOV OF AFGAN HATES PAK a big times
i read a lot of articles

Pakistanis Upgrade Sidewinders

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairw/ar...s/20070101.aspx

January 1, 2007: The Pakistani Air Force is paying an American firm about $19,000 each to have 310 AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles upgraded to the AIM-9M8/9 standard. This involves minor improvements in the electronics and rocket motor. In most air forces, air-to-air missiles are never fired, but end up exceeding their shelf-life and being taken out of service then, or when they otherwise become obsolete. In this case, a missile that is still considered quite effective, is being given a check-up and minor upgrade, to make them useful for another 5-10 years. The missiles will be refurbished in the United States. This project is part of a larger, $5.1 billion effort to add 36 F-16s to the Pakistani air force, and upgrade existing aircraft, and associated equipment and weapons.

Greece to sell four Elli class frigates to Pakistan
india-defence.com
Dated 15/5/2006


Islamabad: Greece will provide four frigates to the Pakistan Navy, two of which will be delivered this year, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said.

Aziz, visiting Greece at the head of a delegation of ministers, senior officials and businessmen, said both countries were looking forward to stronger ties in defence and security matters and had agreed to the deal.

'Pakistan will acquire used frigates,' he said. He did not reveal further details, the Daily Times newspaper reported.

The Hellenic Navy, which uses Elli class frigates, will provide the same. Pakistan has been acquiring defence equipment from various countries to meet its defence needs.

Greece and Pakistan also pledged to exchange information on fighting terror, the prime ministers of the two countries said later.

Aziz and Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis did not take questions from mediapersons. Karamanlis declined to answer a reporter's query on an ongoing investigation into the alleged abduction and interrogation of a number of Pakistani immigrants in Athens following the July 2005 London attacks.


- damn! how i wish the Philippine Navy got those ships instead! :drunk:

-- photo of a Kortenaer class frigate.


Elli (Kortenaer/Standard) class multi-role frigate
from The Hellenic Navy Official Website

Displacement, tons: 3,050 standard; 3,630 full load
Displacement Full Load (tonnes): 3688
Displacement Standard (tonnes): 3098.8
Length (m): 130.5
Beam (m): 14.6
Draught (m): 6.2
Range (nm): 4700
Speed (knots): 30

Dimensions, feet (metres): 428 × 47.9 × 20.3 (screws) (130.5 × 14.6 × 6.2)
Main machinery: COGOG; 2 RR Olympus TM3B gas turbines; 50,880 hp (39.7 MW)sustained; 2 RR Tyne RM1C gas turbines; 9,900 hp (7.4 MW) sustained; 2 shafts; acbLIPS cp props
Speed, knots: 30. Range, miles: 4,700 at 16 kt
Complement: 176 (17 officers)

Missiles: SSM: 8 McDonnell Douglas Harpoon (2 quad) launchers; active radar homing to 130 km (70 n miles) at 0.9 Mach; warhead 227 kg.
SAM: Raytheon NATO Sea Sparrow; 24 missiles; semi-active radar homing to 14.6 km (8 n miles)at 2.5 Mach; warhead 39 kg. Portable Redeye; shoulder-launched; short range.

Guns: 1 or 2 (450, 451) OTO Melara 3 in (76 mm)/62 compact; 85 rds/min to 16 km (8.6 n miles) anti-surface; 12 km (6.5 n miles)anti-aircraft; weight of shell 6 kg.
1 or 2 (450, 451) GE/GD Vulcan Phalanx 20 mm Mk 15 6-barrelled; 3,000 rds/min combined to 1.5 km. One mounting only on hangar roof in F 459-462.

Torpedoes: 4-324 mm Mk 32 (2 twin) tubes. 16 Honeywell Mk 46 Mod 5; anti-submarine; active/passive homing to 11 km (5.9 n miles)at 40 kt; warhead 44 kg. Can be fitted.

Countermeasures: Decoys: 2 Loral Hycor Mk 36 SRBOC chaff launchers.
ESM: Elettronika Sphinx and MEL Scimitar; intercept.
ECM: ELT 715; jammer.

Combat data systems: Signaal SEWACO II action data automation; Links 10, 11 and 14.

Radars: Air search: Signaal LW08; D-band; range 264 km (145 n miles) for 2 m2 target.
Surface search: Signaal ZW06; I-band.
Fire control: Signaal WM25; I/J-band; range 46 km (25 n miles). Signaal STIR; I/J/K-band; range 39 km (21 n miles) for 1 m2 target.

Sonars: Canadian Westinghouse SQS-505; hull-mounted; active search and attack; 7 kHz.

Helicopters: 2 AB 212ASW.


Programmes: A contract was signed with the Netherlands on 15 September 1980 for the purchase of one of the 'Kortenaer' class building for the Netherlands' Navy, and an option on a second of class, which was taken up 7 June 1981. A second contract, signed on 9 November 1992, transferred three more of the class. Recommissioning dates for the second batch are Aegeon 14 May 1993, Adrias 30 March 1994 and Navarinon1 March 1995. Kountouriotis, the sixth ship to transfer, recommissioned on 15 December 1997, Bouboulina, the seventh, on 14 December 2001, Kanaris, the eighth was recommissioned in November 2002 and Themistoklis the eighth was recommissioned in 24 October 2003.

Modernisation: The original plan was to fit one Phalanx CIWS in place of the after 76 mm gun but for Gulf deployments in 1990-91 the gun was retained in 450 and 451 and two Phalanx fitted on the deck above the torpedo tubes. Corvus chaff launchers replaced by SRBOC (fitted either side of the bridge). The second batch of four ships were to be similarly modified but the original plan of one Phalanx vice the after 76 mm has been used as a cheaper alternative. An upgrade programme for these ships is planned to be completed by the end of 2006 but details have yet to be finalised. Modernisation is likely to focus on sensors, the combat data system and communications. The Phalanx system may be upgraded to RAM and flight decks may be strengthened to receive Aegean Hawks.

Structure: Hangar is 2 m longer than in Netherlands' ships to accommodate AB 212ASW helicopters.

Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable missile

Reuters

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan successfully tested on Thursday a cruise missile capable of carrying a variety of warheads, including nuclear, the military said.

The Babur Hatf VII missile has a range of 700 km (435 miles). It was last tested in March.

"It was a successful test," a military official said on condition of anonymity.

The test was meant to validate the design parameters set for the missile, a separate military statement said.

President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz greeted scientists on the test firing and "assured complete support in the development plans of all strategic projects," the statement said.

The Babur Hatf VII is a terrain-hugging, radar avoiding cruise missile.

The missile was first tested in 2005. Since, then its range has been enhanced to 700 km, from 500 km previously.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India routinely carry out missile tests despite a peace process they launched in early 2004, and both have agreed to inform each other of such tests in advance.

The two South Asian neighbors carried out tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=85987

Pakistani troops fire on intruding U.S. choppers

By Augustine Anthony 33 minutes ago

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani troops fired on two U.S. helicopters that intruded into Pakistani airspace on Sunday night, forcing them to turn back to Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani security official said on Monday.

It was the second such incident in a week, and reflects frayed relations with the United States over Pakistan's failure to act more forcibly against Islamist fighters in the tribal lands bordering Afghanistan.

The number of missile attacks by U.S. drone aircraft in the remote tribal areas has multiplied in recent weeks.

The helicopters violated the border in the area of Lowara Mandi, 40 km (25 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, at around 9 p.m. on Sunday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

There was no official confirmation.

"We don't have any information on border violation by the American helicopters," Major Murad Khan, a military spokesman, said.

Residents said drones had been flying overnight and early on Monday over Miranshah but did not attack.

"It's really so scary, we just can't sleep when you hear them flying," said Zia-ur-Rehman, a resident of Hamzoni village near Miranshah.

Relations became strained between the allies in the war on terrorism after U.S. commandos raided a border village in South Waziristan and killed 20 people, including women and children, on September 3.

Pakistanis were outraged by the raid and the six-month-old civilian government issued a diplomatic protest.

It was the first overt incursion by U.S. ground troops into Pakistani territory, though the U.S. military has conducted numerous missile strikes against al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan's tribal lands.

ZARDARI TO MEET BUSH

The U.S. action prompted army chief General Ashfaq Kayani to issue a statement saying that foreign troops would not be allowed on Pakistani soil and Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all costs.

Pakistani troops fired on two U.S. helicopters that crossed the border at the same village, Angor Adda, a week ago, again forcing them to turn back, according to residents and security officers.

Pakistan and the United States issued denials.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is scheduled to meet President George W. Bush on Tuesday in the United States, and is also due to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

Pakistan's support is regarded as crucial to the success of Western forces trying to stabilize Afghanistan, and in the fight against al Qaeda.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, held talks in Islamabad with top Pakistani officials last week. Mullen "reiterated the U.S. commitment to respect Pakistan's sovereignty," the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

The United States is Pakistan's largest donor, and the dissonance between them has been a factor pushing down Pakistani shares and the rupee because Pakistan needs an inflow of dollars to rebuild rapidly depleting foreign currency reserves to prop up its ailing economy.

(Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by David Fogarty)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080922/ts_nm/..._helicopters_dc

Al-Zarar new turret

earlier model.


23 march 2008 parade

Pakistan moves troops toward Indian border
By Sebastian Abbot, Associated Press Writer
Yahoo! News
10 mins ago


ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan began moving thousands of troops to the Indian border Friday, intelligence officials said, sharply raising tensions triggered by the Mumbai terror attacks.

India has blamed Pakistani-based militants for last month's siege on its financial capital, which killed 164 people and has provoked an increasingly bitter war of words between nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought three wars in 60 years.

The troops headed to the Indian border were being diverted away from tribal areas near Afghanistan, officials said, and the move was expected to frustrate the United States, which has been pushing Pakistan to step up its fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militants near the Afghan border.

Two intelligence officials said the army's 14th Division was being redeployed to the towns of Kasur and Sialkot, close to the Indian border. They said some 20,000 troops were on the move. Earlier Friday, a security official said all troop leave had been canceled.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Both countries have said they want to avoid military conflict over the attacks. But India has not ruled out the use of force as it presses its neighbor to crack down on the Pakistani-based terrorist group it blames for the attack.

Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has promised to respond aggressively if attacked but reassured India Friday that Pakistan would not strike first.

"We will not take any action on our own," Gilani told reporters. "There will be no aggression from our side."

Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee accused Pakistan of trying to divert attention away from its struggle to rein in homegrown terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, which Delhi accuses of masterminding the Mumbai attacks.

"They should concentrate on the real issue: how to fight against terrorists and how to fight against and bring to book the perpetrators of (the) Bombay terrorist attack," he said.

Pakistan has arrested several senior members of the banned group and cracked down on a charity the U.S. and UN say was a front for Lashkar. India has demanded greater action, but Pakistan says it needs to share evidence backing up its claims.

Mukherjee responded Friday by saying India had provided more than enough evidence about the militants, who infiltrated Mumbai by sea.

"We have indicated to them that there are ample evidences from the log book of the captured ship, from the information available from satellite telephones and various others that elements from Pakistan were responsible for this attack," Mukherjee told reporters.

Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Friday with the chiefs of the army, navy and air force to discuss "the prevailing security situation," according to an official statement.

An Associated Press reporter in Dera Ismail Khan, a district that borders Pakistan's militant-infested South Waziristan tribal area, said he saw around 40 trucks loaded with soldiers heading away from the Afghan border Friday.

A senior security official confirmed that soldiers were being moved out of the border area, but said it was "a limited number from areas where they were not engaged in any operation."

He declined further comment and asked his name not be used, citing the sensitivity of the situation.

The White House said it was discussing the reported troop movements with U.S. embassies in the region and was urging both countries to cooperate in investigating the attacks and fighting terrorism.

"We hope that both sides will avoid taking steps that will unnecessarily raise tensions during these already tense times," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Analysts said the redeployment was likely meant as a warning to India not to launch missile strikes against militant targets on its territory, a response that some have speculated is possible.

"It is a message to India that if you think you can get away with strikes, you are sadly mistaken," said Talat Masood, a retired general and military analyst based in Islamabad.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947, two over Kashmir, a Muslim majority region in the Himalayas claimed by both countries.

They came close to a fourth after suspected Pakistani militants attacked India's parliament in 2001. Both countries massed hundreds of thousands of troops to the disputed Kashmir region, but tensions cooled after intensive international diplomacy.

News of the buildup comes as Indian officials say militant activity in Indian Kashmir has fallen to its lowest levels since an anti-India militant movement began there in 1989.

The number of militant attacks fell 40 percent from 2007-2008, reaching 709 this year from roughly 1,100 last year, Kuldeep Khoda, a senior police official, said in a statement.

Police say there are 850 militants fighting in the region, including followers of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is widely believed to be a creation of Pakistani intelligence in the 1980s and used to fight Indian-rule in Kashmir.

Indian authorities say the decrease in attacks is the result of an experienced security apparatus that has struck at the heart of many militant groups — Khoda said Indian forces have killed about 350 militants this year, including some top-ranking commanders. But they also say that the militants have scaled back their attacks as a large public protest movement gained momentum since last summer.

Pakistan has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers in Waziristan and other northwestern regions to fight Islamic militants blamed for surging violence against Western troops in Afghanistan as well as suicide attacks in Pakistan.

Security officials have previously said the country would be forced to withdraw troops from the Afghan border if tensions with India — whose army is twice as large — escalated.

"This is a serious blow to the war on terror in the sense that the whole focus is now shifting toward the eastern border," said Masood. "It will give more leeway to the militants and increased space to operate."

The United States wants Pakistan to stay focused on the fight against militants in the border region, where Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding.

Photos show Pakistan 'expanding nuclear sites'
AFP
by Dan De Luce Dan De Luce – Wed May 20, 2:04 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Satellite photos released show Pakistan has expanded two sites crucial to its nuclear program as part of an effort to bolster the destructive power of its atomic arsenal, a US arms control institute said.

The commercial images reveal a major expansion of a chemical plant complex near Dera Ghazi Khan that produces uranium hexafluoride and uranium metal, materials used to produce nuclear weapons, said analysts at the Institute for Science and International Security.

At a site near Rawalpindi, photos suggest the Pakistanis "have added a second plutonium separation plant adjacent to the old one," the ISIS report said.

Pakistan in recent years also has been building two new plutonium production reactors, it said.

"All together, these recent expansion activities indicate that Pakistan is indeed progressing in a strategic plan to improve the destructiveness and deliverability of its nuclear arsenal," the report said.

The expansion would enable Pakistan to build smaller, lighter plutonium-fission weapons and thermonuclear weapons that employ "plutonium as the nuclear trigger and enriched and natural enriched uranium in the secondary," it said.

The commercial photos of the chemical plant in Dera Ghazi Khan, taken on August 25 of last year, show new industrial buildings, new anti-aircraft installations and several new settling ponds as part of the expansion, ISIS said.

The satellite images follow confirmation from the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, on Friday that Pakistan was expanding its nuclear arsenal.

Mullen on Monday said US military assistance to Pakistan was not being used by Islamabad to bolster its nuclear weapons program.

Given turmoil in Pakistan with the army waging war against Taliban militants in the northwest, ISIS said the security of the country's "nuclear assets remains in question.

"An expansion in nuclear weapons production capabilities needlessly complicates efforts to improve the security of Pakistan's nuclear assets," it said.

The Dera Ghazi Khan nuclear site in the past several years has been the target of at least one attack by more than a dozen gunmen, the institute said, citing media reports. Nearby railway tracks have also been bombed.

The attacks have been blamed on separatists from the nearby Pakistani province of Balochistan and not the Taliban, the report said.

"The brazen ground assault and nearby bombings are nevertheless troubling considering the role that the Dera Ghazi Khan plant plays in Pakistan's nuclear weapons program," it said.

CIA director Leon Panetta said Monday that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was "pretty secure" amid concerns the weapons could fall into the hands of Taliban militants.

"Right now, we are confident that the Pakistanis do have a pretty secure approach to trying to protect these weapons. But it is something that we continue to watch because obviously the last thing we want is for the Taliban to have access to nuclear weapons in Pakistan," Panetta said in Los Angeles.

The ISIS report urged the US government to persuade Pakistan to halt production of fissile material and join talks for a treaty that would ban the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium.

"As an interim step, the United States should press both India and Pakistan to suspend any production of fissile material for nuclear weapons," it said.

Pakistan has roughly 60 to 100 nuclear weapons that can be delivered by attack aircraft and ballistic missiles, the report added.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090520/pl_af...kF7BCVCMaBvaA8F

Will the helos discussed below be actually used in the Northwest Frontier against the Taliban or diverted for patrolling the Kashmir border is another question that weighs on some people's minds.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4177914&c=ASI&s=TOP

Meanwhile, in Pakistan's own front against the Taliban in its own country:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090726/worl...nrest_northwest

And Beijing continues to court Islamabad.

And the offensive continues:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090813/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

And Petraeus is in Pakistan, offering and persuading:

A notable update:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091007/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan

A reminder of this threat:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_pakistan_nuclear_safety

More toys for the Pakistani AF: