Article

2006-08-09 India-Pakistan

Fighter jets will make Pakistan's debt soar

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Posted by john 2006-08-09 21:10|| || Front Page|| [10 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 VIEW: Are the F-16s up to scratch?

By Kamran Shafi

So then, despite the fact that the infrastructure of the country is in the state it is in: water soluble roads that are pot-holed with the slightest rain; rickety bridges that collapse at the merest provocation; an electricity distribution system that is so weak and frayed it breaks down with sickening regularity; schools that do not have chairs and tables or safe drinking water for children; government-run hospitals that do not even have sutures, bandages, cotton-wool or methylated spirit; a train network which can be decimated by the washing away of a single bridge- despite all of this it seems we must have the blessed F-16s first.

Indeed the fact that, the infrastructure of Karachi, the major centre of industry and trade and the city that pays majority of the federations bills, could be so creaky that it drowns in three inches of rain; when three-fourths of its residents are out of electricity or water, seems to be a greater cause for concern. Yet we are geared to spend an outrageous amount of five billion US dollars to buy the, as Husain Haqqani put it yesterday, toys for the boys along with building a new general headquarters in Islamabad the beautiful, to boot.

Well talk about the new GHQ another time; this week it is the F-16s. While buying these expensive planes at a time when the country needs all the money it can muster to make the lives of its people a little easier, is a criminal waste of money. Are these aircrafts even worth it? A Pakistani reader from America, who is researching for his PhD sent me a quite shocking email two days ago, which got me going on this subject anew. While I have edited it for brevity, I reproduce it (almost) verbatim:

I am a PhD student at present in the United States and consider myself a patriot. I therefore feel it my duty to ask you to bring something to the nations attention and if possible, create a furore through the press (something similar to what happened in the steel mills case).

A friend of mine, who has inside information (but doesnt want to be known) regarding the operational capabilities of the F-16 batch that we currently have, is very worried about the purchase of the new F-16s being touted as a quantum leap for the PAF.

What worries him specifically (other than the US being able to stop the supply of spares whenever) is that these F-16s will not have EW (electronic warfare) programming capabilities for its RWR (radar warning receiver). Our F-16s have a pre-installed threat library that is able to identify only non-NATO aircraft using its RWR. It has been observed that our F-16s could not detect being locked onto by a Mirage 2000 (since thats a NATO aircraft) while the Chinese built F-6 could. This was because of the above-mentioned limitation in the EW capability of the F-16 supplied (i.e. it cannot be reprogrammed). What this would mean is that an enemy airplane fitted with BVR (beyond visual range) missiles, can lock on to our F-16s and fire a missile without the F-16 being able to take evasive measures. This would make even the most sophisticated aircraft (with all the manoeuvrability in the world) a sitting duck.

His concern is that in the current technological revolution, the age-old concept of dogfights and pilots skill is no longer an integral part of having mastery of the skies. Unfortunately, most of our PAF high ups are usually GD pilots and have a jingoistic vein where they think their skill and superior manoeuvrability is all they need to teach the enemy a lesson. They dont seem to appreciate that the paradigm has shifted in air warfare.

Having no capability to re-program the EW systems in these most advanced fighters is like giving someone a super-duper Pentium Core Duo system with a 29-inch LCD screen and the best sound system in the world; and then to only allow the user to browse the Web on it. Using this same analogy, wouldnt it be preferable to have a Pentium 3 with the capability of writing your own code and interfacing your own peripheral devices?

The bottom line is that we want to ask the government this question: Is the PAF being provided the capability to reprogram the EW threat library? A simple yes or no is all we need because then we can hold them accountable to a folly that may cost us, not only the billions spent on the deal (and the millions received in kickbacks?), but also the fate of our nation in the near future.

I have tried to be as exhaustive as I can. Please, if you feel the need, investigate more through Janes and other such sources, and try to make the PAF at least reply to the question.

Right then, this is not all. We have the bum too, folks, remember? How can we forget when the Establishment reminds us day in and day out that we have it because it and it alone is the deterrent that keeps India in check. Well, if you have this great deterrent, what are the F-16s for? Neither is this all. The F-16s on offer to Pakistan apparently cant deliver nuclear bombs either!

So, could some PAF-wallah please clarify the points raised here? And could he please tell us who the F-16s agent(s) is/are and what sort of commissions he/they will make out of this deal? And while he is at it, could he also please tell us who the agents (because there are several, according to my information) are in the SAAB AWACS deal, and how many hundreds of millions of scrumptious Dollars they will make?

Posted by john 2006-08-09 21:17|| 2006-08-09 21:17|| Front Page Top

#2 The miserable pakis make wonderful cannon fodder. The islamists thrive in ignorant, starving, fanatical, saudi-funded-madras-ridden societies. I suppose the new weapons will come in handy when the moolahs take over from Perv and the democrats immasculate our US forces. Sorry, i've been feeling depressed today--perhaps it was liebermans defeat, one of the few democrats who "gets it".

Posted by Claviling Sholuth9192 2006-08-09 22:58|| 2006-08-09 22:58|| Front Page Top

#3 This is typical FMF back scratching for being a good boy. We sell them 30 F-16 aircraft that are really not any good for a first world fight. There is no money exchanged, it's a loan. They play along and let us push our policies in the area. The aircraft will soon be lawn art because the PAF can't maintain them, and we will forgive the debt when we need a big favor from them. Same game, different country.

Posted by 49 Pan 2006-08-09 23:02|| 2006-08-09 23:02|| Front Page Top

#4 49 Pan's got it...but I think John had it too...he's no slouch, that John

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2006-08-09 23:10|| 2006-08-09 23:10|| Front Page Top

23:42 bk
23:39 Snease Shaiting3550
23:33 Frank G
23:33 Old Patriot
23:32 Frank G
23:32 Snease Shaiting3550
23:29 J. D. Lux
23:23 Claviling Sholuth9192
23:23 Snease Shaiting3550
23:15 FOTSGreg
23:12 Claviling Sholuth9192
23:11 Frank G
23:11 Barbara Skolaut
23:10 FOTSGreg
23:10 Frank G
23:09 Snease Shaiting3550
23:09 Claviling Sholuth9192
23:08 Frank G
23:03 Claviling Sholuth9192
23:02 49 Pan
23:00 Glenmore
22:59 Frank G
22:58 Claviling Sholuth9192
22:57 Old Patriot