Kayani asks US to give Pakistan Cobra helicopters

[Salahadin]

LAHORE: Pakistan has asked the United States to provide it military hardware, including Cobra and Apache assault helicopter gunships, a private TV channel quoted unidentified military officials as saying on Friday. According to the channel, Chief of Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Kayani gave a list of demands to the US during his meetings with senior US military officials.The sources said Pakistan had also sought spare parts for existing gunships, most of which are past their operational prime and need urgent refurbishment, the channel reported. daily times monitor


Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Sargodhian_Eagle]

Very difficult that US will give apache
Apache is an advance attack helicopter so US will hardly provide the cobra spare parts just but APACHE in Kyani's dreams

 

[blain2]

There is no such a thing as demanding. We have requested it. Secondly, Apache is a possibility. The issue would be funding and not the clearance. Its a pretty expensive platforms but affords engagements at much greater standoff ranges than the Cobra.

 

[metalfalcon]

I think Kiyani should go For Turkish made T-129 , Its specifically Designed to Counter terrorists who use terrain to get cover, Its one of the best attack Helicopters available today. For more information have look at this thread.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-...y-producers-sign-contracts-foreign-firms.html

American wont give us Apache for Sure but they can give us Cobras but even then the supply of Spare parts is not guaranteed. I think Pakistan Must go for Turkish systems as Turkey is a Brotherly Country and reliable.

 

[blain2]

I think Kiyani should go For Turkish made T-129 , Its specifically Designed to Counter terrorists who use terrain to get cover, Its one of the best attack Helicopters available today. For more information have look at this thread.

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-...y-producers-sign-contracts-foreign-firms.html

American wont give us Apache for Sure but they can give us Cobras but even then the supply of Spare parts is not guaranteed. I think Pakistan Must go for Turkish systems as Turkey is a Brotherly Country and reliable.

Americans may provide Apaches. If they do, FMF can be applied towards the helis. If you go the Turkish route, you have to self-finance all. I am pretty sure even if Pakistan went for Apaches, the numbers would be less than 20.

 

[mean_bird]

I think the most important consideration here would be the financing. From Turkey, we will have to buy it while from US, there are chances of using the FMF or he may be asking as support needed to fight WoT i.e provided by US govt in return for sealing border, etc.

I am against buying anything from US from purely our own money unless its something we need to get access to technology.

 

[metalfalcon]

Americans may provide Apaches. If they do, FMF can be applied towards the helis. If you go the Turkish route, you have to self-finance all. I am pretty sure even if Pakistan went for Apaches, the numbers would be less than 20.

I knew it the only Problem is the Finance, FMF is just another way of America to have Control on Pakistan procurement of Military Hardware.

But what is your Opinion about T-129, I think its a Nice Helicopter Especially For Anti-terrorists operations. I would Like to hear Expert Opinion from you.

 

[arslan_treen]

i dont think so Apache are that much of a problem to obtain if Pak wants to buy or part buy part finance them !! but we have to keep it in mind that will the U.S be willing to provide it with longbow radar or just older Apaches !!! because with out longbow radar ..its not much different then other Gunships available in the market . Though its still is a very potent platform but its not worth the offort or the money with out the Longbow radar .

 

[sohailbutt]

The question is why did General Kayani not request AH-1Z in addition to the single engine cobra which Pakistan Army operates, AH-1Z is upgraded, if not match Apache but it has similar capabilities to Apache and also Pakistan Army will find it easy to integrate AH-1Z's into their present fleet of cobra's, but Apache is a hell of a machine no doubt but the real question is will Congress give a green signal for it, I higly doubt it

can anyone please answer my question?

 

[saiko]

Can anyone tell me what kind of attack helicopters Pakistan uses right now?

 

[fatman17]

Can anyone tell me what kind of attack helicopters Pakistan uses right now?

Bell Cobras AH-1S / AH-1F totalling about 39 in number. 8 additional helos have been requested.

 

[fatman17]

The question is why did General Kayani not request AH-1Z in addition to the single engine cobra which Pakistan Army operates, AH-1Z is upgraded, if not match Apache but it has similar capabilities to Apache and also Pakistan Army will find it easy to integrate AH-1Z's into their present fleet of cobra's, but Apache is a hell of a machine no doubt but the real question is will Congress give a green signal for it, I higly doubt it

can anyone please answer my question?

my guess is that the army needs attack helos in a hurry as the current fleet is being "over used" and the spares are being depleted at a high rate. so therefore the obvious choice (not the ideal) would be additional cobras AH-1Fs and upgrading the older AH-1S to !F configuration and yes spares, spares and more spares.

AH-64 would be a medium term requirement and currently none are available under EDA and the existing US fleet is undergoing their own upgrades. also refer to the BEST CAS AIRCRAFT thread and you will find that the AH-64 suffers from a lot of "down-time" and we cannot afford that under current conditions.

 

[Blackpearl]

The question is why did General Kayani not request AH-1Z in addition to the single engine cobra which Pakistan Army operates, AH-1Z is upgraded, if not match Apache but it has similar capabilities to Apache and also Pakistan Army will find it easy to integrate AH-1Z's into their present fleet of cobra's, but Apache is a hell of a machine no doubt but the real question is will Congress give a green signal for it, I higly doubt it

can anyone please answer my question?

I agree, Army does not need Appaches, rather more AH-1f or an upgraded model of cobra helos. There was a plan to upgrade cobra helicopters, but no one knows what is the latest on that.
I think AH-64 is best suited for anti armour ops and not req for COIN ops. as it will prove to be overkill for taliban.

 

[SSGPA1]

Apache is a great choice but we should also look into CAIC WZ-10 from China.

Aache may be around $22 M but CAIC WZ-10 is going to be much cheaper and with fewer strings.

Turkish helo is also an option. AS far as financing is concerned, both Turkey and China will be able to help us with a soft loan.

Apache without spares and support are useless like any other machine and based on US history they can pull support any time they want.

 

[Quwa]

I read that South Korea wanted to acquire 36 used AH-64As and upgrade them to AH-64D for a cost of about $750mn to $1bn U.S. PA may try to acquire the Apaches through a similar arrangement, but it can also order a number of new-built AH-64Ds as well.

In fact the U.S. is reportedly putting up 260 AH-64s up for sale:
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3901929&c=AIR&s=TOP

PA may consider a combination of both new and used AH-64s, perhaps cap the overall cost to $1.5bn U.S. In this scenario I think PA could buy 40 new and used AH-64Ds. If another 20 AH-1 Cobras are also acquired, then PA's attack helicopter fleet would stand at a solid 100.