Deccan Herald
'Pakistan at disadvantage to maintain military balance'
New Delhi, PTI:
A record of over 400 global and Indian firms have lined up at the Aero India show in Bangalore whereas Pakistan is hard-pressed to find sellers to meet its defence requirements.
With leading civil and defence aviation companies making a beeline to tap the lucrative Indian market, an American think-tank feels Pakistan will be at a "strategic disadvantage" as it will have to struggle hard to maintain the military balance in the region.
A record of over 400 global and Indian firms have lined up at the Aero India show in Bangalore whereas Pakistan is hard-pressed to find sellers to meet its defence requirements.
Its most recent acquisition, the American F-16 Fighting Falcons, delivered almost a decade after the full payment was made to the US, is a third-generation aircraft while those lining up at Bangalore are offering fourth-generation fighters to meet the IAF's demand for 126 multi-role combat jets.
US-based think-tank Strategic Forecasting Inc (Stratfor) said the Aero India expo was "a reminder of India's continuing rise as a military power".
It said Pakistan could "hardly be pleased" with the line- up of sellers in India as "essentially, when the US and Russia vie for India's favour, India wins. When the defence industry sniffs out large lucrative contracts, India wins. And when India wins, Pakistan loses." The fighter jets vying for the major IAF order are Russia's MiG-35, F/A-18 and F-16 of the US, Swedish Gripen's JAS-39, French Dassault's Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon, a range of fourth generation combat planes which are not on offer to Pakistan.
Security analysts here feel that what has caused concern in Pakistani circles is India's plans to spend 30 billion dollars on defence purchases during its 11th Five Year Plan.
This amount is almost half the size of Pakistan's GDP. As against this, India's planned capital expenditure for defence hardware is a tiny percentage of its GDP, they said, adding that besides acquisition, New Delhi is also building a strong defence industry for the future.
"Already at a strategic disadvantage, Pakistan has a comparative lack of strategic depth and limited resources that keep it from being competitive with India," Sratfor said. Even if Pakistan can acquire new F-16s from the US, it will help maintain the military balance only for now, it noted.
"With continuing developments in India, Pakistan's need for the F-16s, (which) Washington has offered but not yet agreed to deliver will only increase -- they are the best Islamabad can hope for at the moment," the think-tank said.
It said the Chinese J-10 fighters could be a substitute "but not quite as good in terms of technology, sensors or accompanying armaments".
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb112007/update1320412007211.asp
'Pakistan at disadvantage to maintain military balance'
New Delhi, PTI:
A record of over 400 global and Indian firms have lined up at the Aero India show in Bangalore whereas Pakistan is hard-pressed to find sellers to meet its defence requirements.
With leading civil and defence aviation companies making a beeline to tap the lucrative Indian market, an American think-tank feels Pakistan will be at a "strategic disadvantage" as it will have to struggle hard to maintain the military balance in the region.
A record of over 400 global and Indian firms have lined up at the Aero India show in Bangalore whereas Pakistan is hard-pressed to find sellers to meet its defence requirements.
Its most recent acquisition, the American F-16 Fighting Falcons, delivered almost a decade after the full payment was made to the US, is a third-generation aircraft while those lining up at Bangalore are offering fourth-generation fighters to meet the IAF's demand for 126 multi-role combat jets.
US-based think-tank Strategic Forecasting Inc (Stratfor) said the Aero India expo was "a reminder of India's continuing rise as a military power".
It said Pakistan could "hardly be pleased" with the line- up of sellers in India as "essentially, when the US and Russia vie for India's favour, India wins. When the defence industry sniffs out large lucrative contracts, India wins. And when India wins, Pakistan loses." The fighter jets vying for the major IAF order are Russia's MiG-35, F/A-18 and F-16 of the US, Swedish Gripen's JAS-39, French Dassault's Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon, a range of fourth generation combat planes which are not on offer to Pakistan.
Security analysts here feel that what has caused concern in Pakistani circles is India's plans to spend 30 billion dollars on defence purchases during its 11th Five Year Plan.
This amount is almost half the size of Pakistan's GDP. As against this, India's planned capital expenditure for defence hardware is a tiny percentage of its GDP, they said, adding that besides acquisition, New Delhi is also building a strong defence industry for the future.
"Already at a strategic disadvantage, Pakistan has a comparative lack of strategic depth and limited resources that keep it from being competitive with India," Sratfor said. Even if Pakistan can acquire new F-16s from the US, it will help maintain the military balance only for now, it noted.
"With continuing developments in India, Pakistan's need for the F-16s, (which) Washington has offered but not yet agreed to deliver will only increase -- they are the best Islamabad can hope for at the moment," the think-tank said.
It said the Chinese J-10 fighters could be a substitute "but not quite as good in terms of technology, sensors or accompanying armaments".
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb112007/update1320412007211.asp