Pakistan Army Armoured Corps - Serious Deficiencies

[XYON]

Pakistan Army Armoured Corps has a huge armada of formidable battle tanks and yet for the 1st and 2nd tenure of Gen Kayani, it is being neglected in various aspects. Few of them are listed below.

1. None of the Armoured Corps tanks currently have an in-service Laser Threat Warning System installed. ATCOP was tasked to develop one but it failed multiple times in trials after field trials until 10 years and millions of rupees wasted later, the CGS put a stop to the project. Today the Armoured Corps is trying to evaluate a few LTS systems but no serious headway is being made mainly owing to the lack of interest with the Armoured Coprs Directorate in GHQ itself. Meanwhile, the Army tanks and its crew have no early warning system installed within the tanks to raise alarm when ever the tanks are being lazed for an attack. They will be literally sitting ducks with ZERO chance of survival in today's laser infested battlefield.

2. Fire Drills of the Armoured Corps tank units are also taking a proverbial hit. Generally tank crews and new officers are first trained on theory, followed by tank simulation systems and then directly to live firing. The important aspect of SUB CALIBER device training is missing from the training folds. The new units these days have also to seriously cut back on using live rounds (read expensive!!) for training. Induction of a SUB CALIBER device by the Army Armoured Corps is a serious need of the day. Inspectorate of Armaments in Rawalpindi was tasked to develop a Sub Caliber Device but they also seem to be going down the path of LTS project above as theirs developed SCD has failed now in multiple trials. SCD induction gives huge cost savings to the Armoured Corps and tends to tremendously raise the quality of the trainees in live & accurate firing without having to sacrifice anything due to shortage of funds to use live rounds. It also builds the confidence levels of the trainees. and gives better overall accurate hit ratio during actual large ammunition caliber fire drills.

3. AL-KHALID 2 project is still dormant with the 2 prototypes parked aimlessly at HIT without having any certain future or further trials commitment for the Army Armoured Corps.

Lets hope that someone at the helm of command & GHQ can now sit up and take notice of the above serious deficiencies and at the same time take solid steps to address them quickly.

 

[DV RULES]

Any source or link in favour of your thinking!

 

[Jango]

somebody really should pay attention to this, especially the armoured corps lt Gen hamid khan should pursue the problem effectively, but , this is what a frailing economy can do,

 

[Donatello]

somebody really should pay attention to this, especially the armoured corps lt Gen hamid khan should pursue the problem effectively, but , this is what a frailing economy can do,

The khakis are themselves responsible for turning a nation into this frailing economy.

When Khakis made the foreign policy and domestic policy for 40 out 60 years....what do you expect?

 

[XYON]

Any source or link in favour of your thinking!

This is not a published article but a personal assessment based on various inputs from within the Army Armoured Corps!

 

[manojb]

Any source or link in favour of your thinking!

Do u think pak army/media ever gona show short comings of military equipment it is making.

 

[Prs3]

Gearhuoptvbb

 

[XYON]

Do u think pak army/media ever gona show short comings of military equipment it is making.

That is actually true with any country with a military and not necessarily Pakistan-specific!! For example, Indian Air Force has crashed multiple Israeli UAV's near your Mumbai Naval Base but the same has never been reported anywhere in your or the international media!!

 

[Battle Axe]

This is not a published article but a personal assessment based on various inputs from within the Army Armoured Corps!

The Al Khalid does incorporate ATCOP LTS 1 laser threat warning system and further advancements were due in Al Khalid II, which I agree is rusting out in parking spaces at HIT.

And the forces have been really hampered due to funding issues these days. Before Azm e Nau, there had been a huge lull in major exercise too, all owed to paucity of funds. Same is the case with firing of live rounds, which is of critical training value.

Now that part, we know Al Khalid has areactive anti-IR paint to reduce IR signaure that makes me look forward to future tanks with markedly reduced heat, IR & EM signatures. Way to go!

 

[alimobin memon]

t-80UD, Al khalid,alzarrar they are equipped with all latest avionics are you nuts i wrote indian colonel book saying pakistan armoured corps might be smaller in size but it has high tech tanks approx 900

 

[Haseebullah]

The khakis are themselves responsible for turning a nation into this frailing economy.

When Khakis made the foreign policy and domestic policy for 40 out 60 years....what do you expect?

If the civilians were so capable the khakis would never have come in the first place.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

t-80UD, Al khalid,alzarrar they are equipped with all latest avionics are you nuts i wrote indian colonel book saying pakistan armoured corps might be smaller in size but it has high tech tanks approx 900

we have more than 1400+ tanks in active service not 900

 

[XYON]

The Al Khalid does incorporate ATCOP LTS 1 laser threat warning system and further advancements were due in Al Khalid II, which I agree is rusting out in parking spaces at HIT.

And the forces have been really hampered due to funding issues these days. Before Azm e Nau, there had been a huge lull in major exercise too, all owed to paucity of funds. Same is the case with firing of live rounds, which is of critical training value.

Now that part, we know Al Khalid has areactive anti-IR paint to reduce IR signaure that makes me look forward to future tanks with markedly reduced heat, IR & EM signatures. Way to go!

The ATCOP LTS has been categorically rejected by the GHQ. Amongst other improvements on the AK such as the locally developed BMS has still NOT matured and is at an experimental stage still. A company from Greece had offered HIT an Anti-IR paint and a few Al-Zarrars were also painted. But at the end of the day HIT decided that the said paint was to expensive. Except for some improved side skirts covering the tracks, I have not seen any other real physical improvements in the new AK compared to the previous ones. Ah Yes!!! the new AK does have a Combined Driver Night Vision Sight compared to the last AK that had seperate day and night sight for the driver.

 

[niaz]

Pakistani defence thinking appears to be too traditional. This could be due to the fact that all the India - Pakistani wars have been fought on the traditional (WW2 mode) basis with massed tank formations attempting to out flank/encircle each other. Our promotion procedure is also very traditional and more weight given to the fact that there is no black mark against one’s name rather than on the original thinking and ingenuity of the person. Remember Saddam Hussein fought a traditional war against the Allied forces and was annihilated.

While importance of the traditional values such as discipline and courage under fire cannot be underestimated, there appears to be a dearth of quality leadership in PA. Let us face it, except may be Gen Abrar of the 6th Armoured Div. and Lt Col Nisar Ahmad Khan of 25th cavalry, we have not come across any tank commander who distinguished himself in battle. Instead Pakistan has had misfortune of commanders such Maj Gen Nasir Ahmad Khan of the Khem Karan notoriety who lost nearly 100 tanks thru indecision and bad leadership. (Please don't bring in Zia ul Haq, he only killed lightly armed PLO fighters with tanks)

I have nothing against General Kiyani but in my opinion there should be a law that no one and I mean absolutely no one should hold the position of Chief of Staff of the Army for more than 3 years. Promotion from Brigadier to Major General should also be made very tough and only the most capable individuals with drive should be promoted to a two star rank.

Modern war is technology based. You need data linking and real time info as well as highly educated and skilled leadership to fight a future war. In my humble opinion, inferiority in the quality and number of tanks can be more than made up by thinking of new ways of countering a massed tank assault. There should be a Research and Analysis section (I don’t mean the RAW as in India) whose main job should be to fight simulated battles under different scenarios and come up with best ways of utilizing whatever assets Pakistan has.

In conclusion, Pakistan should give priority to information technology/ digitilization of her mechanized and aviation assets and improving quality of manpower; increase in the number of tanks should come second.

 

[Battle Axe]

The ATCOP LTS has been categorically rejected by the GHQ. Amongst other improvements on the AK such as the locally developed BMS has still NOT matured and is at an experimental stage still. A company from Greece had offered HIT an Anti-IR paint and a few Al-Zarrars were also painted. But at the end of the day HIT decided that the said paint was to expensive. Except for some improved side skirts covering the tracks, I have not seen any other real physical improvements in the new AK compared to the previous ones. Ah Yes!!! the new AK does have a Combined Driver Night Vision Sight compared to the last AK that had seperate day and night sight for the driver.

Integrated BMS have been installed though and are completely operational. I agree that they need to mature but that will ensue soon. AK also provides for separate laser range finders for Commander and Gunner, so that the former can set up an aim independently. This allows critical time saving.