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ISLAMABAD - The large number of casualties that Pakistan's forces suffered during anti-Taliban operations in Swat this summer have exposed shortcomings in equipment. A global hunt has been launched to equip the military for what likely will be a tough future campaign in the lawless and untamed tribal region of Waziristan, the Taliban's lair.
The Army already is seeking new helicopters (both gunships and utility types), night-vision goggles, and electronic signals intelligence and intercept equipment.
However, in Waziristan's mountains, which have favored guerrilla warfare through the ages, the Army faces a desperate need to counter the Taliban's favored weapon: improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"Essentially, mines are not available to the Taliban, but the use of IEDs is causing high numbers of casualties," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the Army's director-general of public relations.
The Army's normal method of troop transport, in open pickups and larger trucks, has left soldiers virtually unprotected against IEDs, despite some field modifications to vehicles.
Because of the IED threat and treacherous terrain, Abbas said, the Army believes "air mobility in these areas is an essential capability." The service is seeking both gunship helicopters and transport helicopters, the latter it is hoped with "armored undersides to counter ground fire," he said.
A testament to the efforts underway are the approaches for defense equipment made to former Cold War enemy Russia. In late June, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, Army chief of staff, undertook a three-day trip to Russia, following a meeting between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Around the same time, Pervez Musharraf, former Pakistani president and Army chief of staff, visited Russia and is thought to have discussed counterterrorism cooperation.
Whether Moscow will entertain Islamabad's requests for help is unknown; nothing has materialized. However, Aftab Hussain, Russia specialist at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, considers it likely.
"This is not a war confined to Pakistan," he said. "If Russia helps Pakistan in the war against the Taliban, it in turn gains, as it is fighting its own insurgency in the Caucasus. Insurgents in Pakistan and Russia both have connections to al-Qaida, and Central Asian militant groups are active in both countries. So it is imperative for them to cooperate against a common enemy."
The Pakistani military already operates some Russian-made equipment, including Mi-17 Hip transport helicopters, the workhorses of the Army's rotary aviation fleet. Abbas said more Mi-17s are high on Pakistan's wish list.
However, defense analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium said that Moscow also could fulfill the Army's gunship needs.
"Pakistan has somehow acquired five Mi-35 Hinds," he said. "These are to be part of a new air assault division, which should be formed by the year 2012."
This is a key area where Moscow could considerably boost Pakistan's anti-insurgent abilities, Khan said.
Some Mi-35s have been photographed at Pakistani air bases but are clearly nonoperational.
When asked about these Mi-35s, Abbas was unable to say whether restoring them to operational status is included in current negotiations with Russia.
However, he said that necessity had led the Army to equip the unarmed Eurocopter Ecureuil with a heavy machine gun as a stopgap measure.
Negotiations underway with France for a variety of arms may include procurement of "an armed helicopter," Abbas said, but he was unable to reveal further details.
A Eurocopter spokesman previously had told Defense News that Pakistan has been negotiating to buy an undisclosed number of Fennec light helicopters, the armed variant of the Ecureuil, but no further details were available from Eurocopter last week. Other sources here and in France declined to comment because Islamabad and Paris are still negotiating the arms package.
Last week, a delegation of French senators visiting Pakistan was told the military expended much of its supply of laser-guided bombs along the frontier this summer and desperately needs replacements.
France is not the only European country that Pakistan has approached to remedy its military equipment shortcomings. To fill the need for a mine-resistant vehicle, Islamabad has shown interest in the Dingo all-protected transport vehicle, built by Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, and in the Kaya, from close defense partner Turkey's Otokar.
The Army attache in Pakistan's Ankara embassy said he knew of no official move to acquire the Kaya, but could not rule out direct contacts between Otokar and the Pakistani government. ■
E-mail: uansari@defensenews.com.
Pakistan Army Seeks To Rearm To Enter Taliban Lair - Defense News
Otokar Kaya
The Army already is seeking new helicopters (both gunships and utility types), night-vision goggles, and electronic signals intelligence and intercept equipment.
However, in Waziristan's mountains, which have favored guerrilla warfare through the ages, the Army faces a desperate need to counter the Taliban's favored weapon: improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
"Essentially, mines are not available to the Taliban, but the use of IEDs is causing high numbers of casualties," said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, the Army's director-general of public relations.
The Army's normal method of troop transport, in open pickups and larger trucks, has left soldiers virtually unprotected against IEDs, despite some field modifications to vehicles.
Because of the IED threat and treacherous terrain, Abbas said, the Army believes "air mobility in these areas is an essential capability." The service is seeking both gunship helicopters and transport helicopters, the latter it is hoped with "armored undersides to counter ground fire," he said.
A testament to the efforts underway are the approaches for defense equipment made to former Cold War enemy Russia. In late June, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kiyani, Army chief of staff, undertook a three-day trip to Russia, following a meeting between Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Around the same time, Pervez Musharraf, former Pakistani president and Army chief of staff, visited Russia and is thought to have discussed counterterrorism cooperation.
Whether Moscow will entertain Islamabad's requests for help is unknown; nothing has materialized. However, Aftab Hussain, Russia specialist at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, considers it likely.
"This is not a war confined to Pakistan," he said. "If Russia helps Pakistan in the war against the Taliban, it in turn gains, as it is fighting its own insurgency in the Caucasus. Insurgents in Pakistan and Russia both have connections to al-Qaida, and Central Asian militant groups are active in both countries. So it is imperative for them to cooperate against a common enemy."
The Pakistani military already operates some Russian-made equipment, including Mi-17 Hip transport helicopters, the workhorses of the Army's rotary aviation fleet. Abbas said more Mi-17s are high on Pakistan's wish list.
However, defense analyst Haris Khan of the Pakistan Military Consortium said that Moscow also could fulfill the Army's gunship needs.
"Pakistan has somehow acquired five Mi-35 Hinds," he said. "These are to be part of a new air assault division, which should be formed by the year 2012."
This is a key area where Moscow could considerably boost Pakistan's anti-insurgent abilities, Khan said.
Some Mi-35s have been photographed at Pakistani air bases but are clearly nonoperational.
When asked about these Mi-35s, Abbas was unable to say whether restoring them to operational status is included in current negotiations with Russia.
However, he said that necessity had led the Army to equip the unarmed Eurocopter Ecureuil with a heavy machine gun as a stopgap measure.
Negotiations underway with France for a variety of arms may include procurement of "an armed helicopter," Abbas said, but he was unable to reveal further details.
A Eurocopter spokesman previously had told Defense News that Pakistan has been negotiating to buy an undisclosed number of Fennec light helicopters, the armed variant of the Ecureuil, but no further details were available from Eurocopter last week. Other sources here and in France declined to comment because Islamabad and Paris are still negotiating the arms package.
Last week, a delegation of French senators visiting Pakistan was told the military expended much of its supply of laser-guided bombs along the frontier this summer and desperately needs replacements.
France is not the only European country that Pakistan has approached to remedy its military equipment shortcomings. To fill the need for a mine-resistant vehicle, Islamabad has shown interest in the Dingo all-protected transport vehicle, built by Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, and in the Kaya, from close defense partner Turkey's Otokar.
The Army attache in Pakistan's Ankara embassy said he knew of no official move to acquire the Kaya, but could not rule out direct contacts between Otokar and the Pakistani government. ■
E-mail: uansari@defensenews.com.
Pakistan Army Seeks To Rearm To Enter Taliban Lair - Defense News
Otokar Kaya
