[Naharnet] Pakistain is set to become the fifth Asian country to use China's domestic satellite navigation system which was launched as a rival to the U.S. global positioning system, a report said Saturday.
| Place yer bets, ladies and gents! Place yer bets on when it'll fall out of the sky! |
The Beidou, or Compass, system started providing services to civilians in the region in December and is expected to provide global coverage by 2020. It also has military applications.
| Golly, what a surprise that is! |
Thailand, China, Laos and Brunei already use the Chinese system, which currently consists of 16 operational satellites, with 30 more due to join the system, according to English-language China Daily.
Huang Lei, international business director of BDStar Navigation, which promotes Beidou, told the newspaper the company would build a network of stations in Pakistain to enhance the location accuracy of Beidou.
He said building the network would cost tens of millions of dollars.
| Money to be provided by whom? 'Cause Pakistan is basically broke. |
American website Defensenews.com reported early May that Pak military experts were in favor of using the Chinese system, even though the availability of the signal could not be guaranteed in case of conflict.
But according to one of them, Pakistain cannot place its trust in the United States.
"Pakistain's armed forces cannot rely on U.S. GPS because of its questionable availability during a conflict that has overtones of nuclear escalation," former Pakistain Air Force pilot Kaiser Tufail told the site.
| And don't y'all forget it. |
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang travels next week to Pakistain, a long time ally, after a visit to India. |