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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan Air Force Crumbling Away |
| 2013-01-12 |
| [Strategy Page] The Pakistan Air Force is losing nearly two percent of its 900 aircraft each year to accidents. This is more than ten times the rate of Western air forces. These losses are caused by aircraft that are too old and a budget that is too small to properly train pilots and maintain the aircraft. Most of Pakistan's 520 fighters are over 20 years old. This includes 157 French made Mirage IIIs and 5s, 178 of 186 MiG-21s (the Chinese F-7 version), and 31 of 77 U.S. made F-16s. There have been some new aircraft put into service. Since 2000, Pakistan has received 46 F-16s and 100 Chinese made JF-17s (similar to the F-16). These planes are pretty safe. Older aircraft tend to crash more often. Pakistan does not have enough money to buy enough new aircraft to replace all those becoming inoperable because of age. You can refurbish old aircraft and keep them flying for half a century or more. But Pakistan hasn't got the money for that either. There's also not enough cash for the spare parts and fuel needed for the training flights needed to keep the 3,000 Pakistani Air Force pilots capable of handling high-performance aircraft safely. In short, the Pakistani Air Force is facing a disaster. Each year more and more of their aircraft become inoperable and their pilots, unable to fly enough to maintain their skill, become less capable. |
| Posted by:Water Modem |
| #5 That damned ol' 'Allen wills it' maintenance mindset will getcha every time.... Wouldn't surprise me if money budgeted for spare parts was being skimmed off. Corruption is a big factor in the decrepit state of Third World militaries. Phantom soldiers and phantom parts - all paid for but existing only as budget line items and secret foreign bank accounts. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2013-01-12 17:33 |
| #4 Perhaps cutting back on the 'whiskey budget' a bit? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2013-01-12 12:21 |
| #3 After leaving Afghanistan lets hope we support India and Afghanistan instead of Pakistan as they are clearly no friend of the West. They are a country full of radicals from Hamid Gul/ISI downwards. |
| Posted by: Ebbeath Ulise1733 2013-01-12 12:18 |
| #2 If you were to look at the aircraft of the US, i think it is safe to say that we also have a goodly number over 20 years old and we don't lose 2% a year. and that includes working off a carrier; how many of those does Pakiwakiland have? That damned ol' 'Allen wills it' maintenance mindset will getcha every time.... |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2013-01-12 03:18 |
| #1 Oh, BOO HOO, I'll bet Obama's expected to fork over the Latest in Aircraft, he's a "Good Muslim". And after all, it's expected. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2013-01-12 02:14 |