Hi,
I wrote this article a few hours ago and mailed it to dawn and express tribune----but looking at this major news coming out on dawn that we need 190 aircraft by 2020---here is the article
The threat of the " anytime sanctions during 30 years into future " by the U S senator on the F16's, must be negated by the pakistan air force. This is just an eye opener kind of disclaimer given by U S senator Corker to Pakistan in good american faith.
And as always----the U S has told Pakistan upfront in what maybe coming anytime in the future if things go awry. By now---we should be able to understand what may trigger the sanctions by the indian dominated U S congress and senate. It maybe be an attack on the U S soil by terrorists of Pakistan origin---an attack on the Indian soil by terrorists and other similar acts.
The pakistanis may chose to disagree or agree on who the terrorists maybe and what their agenda
could be---but the fact will remain that it may result in sanctions.
To confront that and to take charge of the problem---the paf needs to think out of the box and make some serious changes to the design of the JF17 aircraft on a fastrak to combat the issue.
It needs to look at the size of the Japanese F2 fighter aircraft in comparison to the size of the F16. They designed a slightly larger aircraft that could carry more weight of weapons than the F16 and other equipment and added an aesa fire control radar.
The Japanese are a small nation----and they know that they have an enemy with a larger air force. The first batch of the F2's may have some issues but the later ones did well--. The idea behind it is extremely thoughtful---and that is where the needs of pakistan air force, meet the design challenges and abilities of the current JF17's against their major adversary.
The JF17 program has entered a juncture where it needs to plan for where it needs to be in the next 5 years time frame for its BLK4 aircraft to meet the needs of the un-sanctioned and unhindered defence of pakistani air space---keeping in focus the ever looming open threat made by the U S senator a few days ago and to replace the F16 BLK 52 and take the capabilities of paf to the next level without procuring anymore F16's new or used / refurbished.
The capabilities and capacity of weapons load and electronics also needs to be re-assessed along with the physical structure changes to the aircraft----relocation of current wheels with taller ones---larger power plant---larger wing area and use of composite material to reduce the weight.
The target for the aircraft in weight carrying capacity needs to be in the range of 7000-8000 KG with at least 9-11 hard points.
And as we discussed---to meet the challenge, the size of the aircraft needs to be similar to the japanese F2---which is a slightly larger aircraft than the F16 with a 25% larger wing span.
The wheels of the JF 17 need to be moved outwards like those on the Gripen NG---and it needs to have TALLER wheels for more ground clearance---so that there should not be any problems in mounting heavy air launched cruise missiles like the Hatf V111---anti ship missile like the CM 400 AKG or the air launch version of the Babur cruise missile.
The re-positioning of the wheels must allow it to carry extra fuel in the wing fuel tanks and extending into the side of the main frame as well just like the Gripen NG.The aircraft must also have conformal fuel tanks as well as aerial refuelling capabilities with a hidden refueller receptacle like that on the Tornado.
The wings must support 2 ALCM's or 2 anti ship missiles in the weight range of 1000-1250 KG each and 2 fuel tanks along with the conformal fuel tanks.
In a fighter interceptor mode, it needs to have the ability to carry 8 BVR missiles and 4 WVR missiles on its pylons including 2 fuel tanks plus the conformal tanks if needed depending on the mission. It should also have the ability of buddy refuelling which means that along with conformal fuel tanks---it would be carrying 4 fuel tanks on the wing pylons to refuel other aircraft as an option.
The design of the fuel tanks must be reconfigured and streamline---instead of the round tanks---they must be rectangular / squarish like those on the Gripen NG to give more fuel capacity to each tank and make it more aerodynamic as well.
The aircraft will have a dedicated IRST and off course a potent fire control Aesa radar with at least 1000 T / R modules---high off bore missile launch capability---rear missile launch detection---jammer pod---sniper type pod and all other paraphernalia and electronic gadgetry that makes a first grade fighter interceptor and strike aircraft of the 4.5 gen class---.
The two seater version should be at least 1/4th of the production right from the start---. For the engine---in 2-3 years time there will be many an options available either the chinese version---the russian or the european engine---.
Also the chinese PL15 would be a mature BVR missile by that time and so would be the chinese HOBS ( high off bore sight ) missile as well. This is not taking into account what other items maybe on offer from manufacturers other than the chinese.
Defence equipment manufacturers like Turkish Aselsan---So. African Denel and Italian Selex need to be on board to provide an option for electronics and weapons packages for paf and for other nations who want to buy this aircraft.
This aircraft would basically take over from where the BLK 52 left----it will negate the need for any further induction of the F16's into the paf in a very short period of time and reduce the liability of sanctions to a ZERO.
There would be no need to spend more money for any new F16's or any used / re-furbished F16's either in the near future. Paf must move away from teh F16 once for all.
Pakistan air force and pakistanis should be really weary of the video leaked by wikileaks that showed the british and the U S intel agencies sabotaging the Israeli drone and the Israeli F16---. The capability of these agencies to log into a live feed of the Israeli drone Heron and to show the live feed of an Israeli F16 HUD is something to be very concerned about.
This basically leads into the world of the never ending rumors of " kill switches ". The bottom line over here is that if those agencies can do it to the Israelis---then they can do it to the pakistani F16's as well---and if they have that much control over what is happening inside the cockpit---then there is no reason not to believe that they can control other electronic functions of the aircraft as well when they desire.
So---in reality---the sanctions of the FUTURE are going to be different from the sanctions of the PAST.
Whereas the sanctions of the past were a stoppage to the supply of parts---the sanctions of the future would include that and would also include the sanctions of the ELECTRONIC type as well---in the form of giving denial for the aircraft engine to operate at full power---to negating any missile launch or bomb drop---or curtailing the use of the instrument panel to just shutting down the aircraft.
The reader should understand that in the U S---even car dealers have that technology of kill switches available to them that they sometimes install on cars. These cars are sold to customers with bad credit and on not recieving payments in time and with a warning to the customer the vehicle operation can be stopped just like that by putting a code into the system.
On newer cars---you can call the factory and have them remotely unlock the doors of the cars. Many a high end vehicles have had their brakes hacked---power steering hacked---( current power steerings are not hydraulic powered but powered by an electric motor )---air conditioning systems hacked---engines hacked remotely thru the internet connection that the vehicle has.
So---if there is a belief for some in pakistan that kill switches are not real---well then let them live in illusion ---for others---it is time to act.
Thank you,
Sincerely,
AKA MastanKhan
Defence.pk
@Khafee @Viper0011. @Irfan Baloch
