Pakistan Air Force | News & Discussions.

[Cool_Soldier]

Sri Lanka will enter the deal soon.

 

[fatman17]

Pioneers of the PAF
AM Asghar Khan

Air Marshal Nur Khan

 

[Cool_Soldier]

Great people

 

[ghazi52]

Salute to them.........................

 

[fatman17]

Asia Pacific

Pakistan’s C-130 fleet is set to get a series of upgrades with Rockwell Collins selected to carry out the work. The Pentagon awarded the company a $30 million contract to carry out the work including the design, manufacture, integration, training, provision of technical support during installation, and delivery of 11 C-130E model kits and five C-130B integrated avionics suites and kits to Pakistan. Furthermore, they are to develop, validate, and deliver consolidated B/E flight manual and associated checklists, and maintenance supplements required to operate, maintain, and sustain the PAF C-130 fleet. All work will be carried out in Islamabad, and will be completed by the end of 2020.

 

[fatman17]

The US Department of Defence (DoD) has selected Rockwell Collins as the prime contractor for the C-130 Hercules fleet upgrade and supply of associated equipment to Pakistan.

Under the terms of the $30m contract, the company will design, manufacture, integrate, train and deliver 11 C-130E model kits and five C-130B integrated avionics suites and kits to Pakistani Air Force (PAF).

The contract covers the development, validation, and delivery of consolidated B/E flight manual and associated checklists, as well as maintenance supplements.

Work under the contract will be carried out at PAF's Nur Khan Base, Islamabad.

Delivery under the contract is expected to be completed by late 2020.

The upgrade is expected to enable the continued operation of the PAF'S C-130 fleet for counter-insurgency / counter-terrorism flights, regional humanitarian operations, troop transport, and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions within Pakistan and in the region.

"Though the authorities have not yet disclosed details about the potential investors, local media reported that four companies expressed interest in the deal."

In 2014, Pakistan placed a request with the US for avionics upgrades, engine management and mechanical upgrades, cargo delivery system installation, and replacement of outer wing sets on six of its C-130B/E aircraft.

The upgrades, estimated to cost $100m, were required for continued operation and effectiveness of the fleet, which is facing airworthiness and obsolescence issues.

The C-130 Hercules primarily performs intratheater portion of the airlift mission, and is capable of operating from rough, dirt strips. It paradrops troops and equipment into hostile areas.

Powered by four Allison AE2100D3 turboprop engines, the C-130 aircraft is designed to conduct airborne assault, search-and-rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance and aerial refuelling, maritime patrol and aerial fire-fighting missions.

Image: US Air Force's C-130 aircraft. Photo: courtesy: USAF / Tech. Sgt. Brian E. Christiansen.

 

[fatman17]

Meet Chengdu's Ace Fighter Designer

Yang Wei might be an unfamiliar name to most observers, but his aircraft, and his underlying philosophy towards designing them, isn’t.

By Benjamin David Baker
January 20, 2016

China is often considered a “Black Box” in terms of its military research and development. The opacity surrounding the often-hyped Chinese military modernization program has fueled much speculation about its potential, capabilities and its planned intended use by the Chinese Communist Party. Much of what has been written about the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has focused on either platforms (such as its aircraft carrier program or ballistic missiles) or policy makers and grand strategy (for example Xi Jinping’s recent ambitious military reforms).

However, there is often little written about the soldiers on China’s technological front line; the engineers and scientists who are actually designing and making (and pretty occasionally, stealing) the information and platforms that the PLA actually use. War is Boring’s Robert Beckhausen provides a fascinating window into one of China’s most influential and important contributors to its military modernization program.

Yang Wei isn’t a familiar name, even to most China-watchers. However, the 53-year-old chief Director of the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute is probably one of the most influential individuals in Chinese military aircraft development today. Most of what is known about Yang comes from a 2011 interview with Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. Apparently, Yang has been a leading designer on two of China’s most discussed aircraft: the new stealth fighter J-20 and the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 Thunder, which is being marketed as a low-cost export alternative to other, western and Russian fourth generation fighters.

What we know about Yang is that he was born in 1963, and enrolled at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in 1978 at the age of 15. He completed two degrees and became a control systems engineer at Chengdu. At 35, he became the youngest-ever director of such an important military research and development institute. In the interview, Yang is presented as the main designer behind China’s innovations in electronic “fly-by-wires” controls in the 1980s. Furthermore, he is described as the main architect behind the PLAAF’s introduction of all-digital aircraft simulation tests. As a result, Yang is hailed as the “man who broke the blockade of foreign technology.”

This is probably oversimplified, but Yang is certainly an influential individual in the development of China’s modern military aircraft. Beckhusen argues that Yang has basically invented the Chinese evolutionary approach to designing and building combat aircraft. Instead of designing and building a brand-new aircraft from scratch, it “borrows” from other countries’ design, integrate some imported and/or indigenous technology, and produces it at a fraction of the price.

The J-20 is a good example of this. This aircraft is designed with foreign technology, by way of stealing the blueprints for the Lockheed-Martin F-35 and the F-22 Raptor. There is much speculation surrounding the combat effectiveness of both these aircraft, but one thing is for sure; the J-20 is probably going to be cheaper than its American counterpart. While no numbers are available for what the J-20 is going to cost, another, related Chinese stealth fighter, the J-31 Gyrfalcon, is reported to land at about $75 million. How much the F-35 will end up costing is anyone’s guess, but according to Robert Farley, somewhere around $100-120 million is a possibilty.

As Beckhusen notes, the J-20 won’t be a complete game-changer. It will probably not be as effective as the F-35 or certainly the F-22 (not least due to China’s persistent problems with under-powered engines). However, in a little more than a decade, China went from having no stealth warplanes to entering the select club of countries in the fifth generation fighter business. That’s no small feat. We can expect, owing to Yang’s design philosophy, that whatever the J-20 becomes, it will not be radically different from what we’ve seen already. But then again, it doesn’t have to be.

In the case of the JF-17, Yang’s philosophy shines through in a different way. This aircraft is designed on the venerable MiG-21, but has been massively upgraded by the incorporation of advanced imported and indigenously designed tech, and is supposed to be comparable to older models of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Again, not a revolutionary aircraft, and probably in the bottom half of the current fourth generation fighter ranking, but considering the price tag at $25 million, quantity becomes a quality in itself.

Yang has been able to keep almost entirely out of the spotlight, at least in English-language media. With several of China’s most talked-about military aircraft being overseen by him, maybe its time the world took notice.

 

[Cool_Soldier]

Thanks for the information.

 

[fatman17]

Air Platforms

Delay to F-16s down to 'Indian lobby', says Pakistani defence minister

Farhan Bokhari, Islamabad - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

21 January 2016

Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif told the lower house of parliament, the national assembly, in Islamabad on 19 January that a deal with the United States for the sale of eight new F-16 fighters had been delayed due to "an Indian lobby" as well as Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, Hussain Haqqani, lobbying against it.

IHS Jane's has previously reported that the agreement, which was finalised in October 2015, was being held up due to opposition from some members of the US Congress.

Asif's remarks suggested that the Pakistani government was concerned at the highest level about the delay, although he stated that "as of today" the US government was committed to supplying the F-16s, adding that delivery of the fighters could take place in another two years.

 

[fatman17]

We faced similar opposition during the sale of 18 F16C/ D models but the deal came through. Expect the same here also.

 

[fatman17]

Blast from the past

 

[air marshal]

Pakistan Air Force - Air Force Inventory Updates at the end of 2015.

Fighter Squadrons

20 x Mirage ROSE-II (Tactical Attack):-

1. No. 25 Squadron Night Strike Eagles (Minhas - Kamra)

PAF Base Rafiqui (Shorkot) not Minhas.

 

[Cornered Tiger]

thanks

PAF Base Rafiqui (Shorkot) not Minhas.

Thanks Sir. got it.

 

[razgriz19]

Where are we with the deal to provide Iraq with mushaks?
I read that the deal fell through for whatever reason...can someone confirm

 

[fatman17]

Where are we with the deal to provide Iraq with mushaks?
I read that the deal fell through for whatever reason...can someone confirm

Correct