Capabilities of PAF Dassault MIRAGE-III/V.

[baqai]

The very first true strike platform the PAF wanted was the A-7. The US had toyed with the idea of selling us those, but withdrew because we weren't budging from the nuclear program. This is despite the fact that we were on the verge of inducting ballistic missiles anyways. It goes to show that an air strike platform is still a very valuable asset, and a very difficult one to get (forcing us to basically foot its development ourselves).

i think we were always assumed to be an easy nut to chew, bend the arms and get their way seems to be the ever lasting foreign policy of America towards us. All those sanctions were blessing in disguise if you ask me.

 

[mshan44]

 

[North Star]

Somethings different about the nose of this bandits bird.

 

[North Star]

Low level high speed dash by Mirage V from No. 8 Haiders

 

[ghazi52]

Pakistan Air Force conducted landing exercise of Fighter Jets on Lahore-Islamabad motorway today.

 

[The Raven]

Somethings different about the nose of this bandits bird.

Recon bird.

 

[R Wing]

Only problem I don’t see as much progress from Pakistan Military Industrial Complex on those various weapon systems. Look at Turkey last 1-2 decades how it’s fielded new weapons UAVs, Missiles, SOMs etc. Our industry isn’t even Cold War standard with some basic manufacturing.

Turkey has a much more sophisticated clearance process that allows brilliant individuals running private companies much better access to produce such things.

In Pakistan, while we do have such companies, the defense establishment is a protected clique where outsiders with vastly better brains and knowledge (often through advanced study abroad or dual nationality due to time spent abroad) than military officers are viewed with suspicion. They are all potential agents rather than potential assets. If our clearance and surveillance infrastructure and modus operandi was a bit more modern, we would feel more comfortable with such brilliant individuals who can make a 1000x better contribution to our capabilities if given a better chance and more trust/support.

 

[Windjammer]

French pioneered attachment of Bombs to the Drop Tanks...Wonder if practice is still carried out on Mirages or why others never followed on it.

 

[Yasser76]

French pioneered attachment of Bombs to the Drop Tanks...Wonder if practice is still carried out on Mirages or why others never followed on it.

View attachment 677761

I think in Pak tempretures this would of been too much of a load out for a Mirage, very heavy fit

 

[Talon]

French pioneered attachment of Bombs to the Drop Tanks...Wonder if practice is still carried out on Mirages or why others never followed on it.

View attachment 677761

Yep PAF still practices this..

 

[GriffinsRule]

You can also ask why the French gave up on this approach in their later fighters, such as the F1 and Mirage 2000.
I imagine, that while it was a novel feature back in the 60s, the cons out-weighted the pros and perhaps better aircraft designs and technology (precision munitions) made this approach redundant. I can imagine a safety concern with this approach as well. Imagine having to jettison the tanks for whatever reason/emergency over friendly territory along with live bombs attached!
I think with small size of the fuel tanks also impedes the range as well as impacting the flight profile so some degree so not as useful in the modern scenario as fifty years ago.

 

[Talon]

You can also ask why the French gave up on this approach in their later fighters, such as the F1 and Mirage 2000.
I imagine, that while it was a novel feature back in the 60s, the cons out-weighted the pros and perhaps better aircraft designs and technology (precision munitions) made this approach redundant. I can imagine a safety concern with this approach as well. Imagine having to jettison the tanks for whatever reason/emergency over friendly territory along with live bombs attached!
I think with small size of the fuel tanks also impedes the range as well as impacting the flight profile so some degree so not as useful in the modern scenario as fifty years ago.

You simply cannot reject such tactics by a mere statement of *not useful in modern scenario*

Fighter aviation is a very complicated subject and involves countless scenarios and approaches,this particular approach is still useful in a CAS mission where you got no or very few aerial or ground threats for example raid on enemy ground units *inside* friendly area.

You wont be using guided munitions in a On Call CAS mission or Search and Destroy mission.Such mission are more suitable for unguided bombs such as Mark bombs or simple cluster bombs.Not forgetting CAS is usually done at low level (not suitable for guided munitions) or via pop up attacks at close range (again,not suitable for guided bombs).So why not carry maximum number of bombs possible.

Also please do not compare PAF with Rich Air Forces,most of those dont even fly the vintage aircrafts we are flying.

 

[Armchair]

You simply cannot reject such tactics by a mere statement of *not useful in modern scenario*

Fighter aviation is a very complicated subject and involves countless scenarios and approaches,this particular approach is still useful in a CAS mission where you got no or very few aerial or ground threats for example raid on enemy ground units *inside* friendly area.

You wont be using guided munitions in a On Call CAS mission or Search and Destroy mission.Such mission are more suitable for unguided bombs such as Mark bombs or simple cluster bombs.Not forgetting CAS is usually done at low level (not suitable for guided munitions) or via pop up attacks at close range (again,not suitable for guided bombs).So why not carry maximum number of bombs possible.

Also please do not compare PAF with Rich Air Forces,most of those dont even fly the vintage aircrafts we are flying.

The standard strike profile during the Cold War was to fly low, pop up and attack, and then go low again. However, I am not sure if this is still true. Today we see aircraft attacking from a height with precision munition.

I do feel that given the nature of the Pak-India scenario of a highly contested airspace, it would be meaningful to use the pop up tactics. If attacking IA formations, dropping dumb bombs would still be effective, as large formations are expected. Perhaps fuel-air bombs could be a way forward for Mirages, as well as cluster bombs and air delivered mines.

 

[Windjammer]

Apart from introducing bomb attachments on drop tanks, the French also created Sneb Rocket Pods with extension that contained fuel or acted as drop tanks.

 

[Clairvoyant]

Apart from introducing bomb attachments on drop tanks, the French also created Sneb Rocket Pods with extension that contained fuel or acted as drop tanks.

View attachment 678120

That's the JL.100 drop tank which had 268 Liters fuel along with SNEB 18×68 mm rockets, it's not used anymore as used to cause a lot of drag.