Pakistan
Meanwhile, across the border Pakistan has a fairly strong indigenous UAV industry, with local companies producing a variety of small and medium UAVs for commercial and military use. The military has great demand for UAVs in order to monitor the Kashmir region and keep an eye on militants, particularly in the mountainous tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Some of the main unmanned aircraft companies in Pakistan include Integrated Dynamics, East West Infiniti and state-owned Air Weapons Complex and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. Satuma (Surveillance and Target Unmanned Aircraft) is a major manufacturer, having developed the Jasoos, the larger and more capable Flamingo, and Mukhbar (a shorter-range version of the Jasoos). The Jasoos is in turn a development of the Air Weapons Complex Bravo+, which has been in Pakistan Air Force service since 2004. The Bravo made its public debut in March 2001.
Global Industrial and Defence Solutions (GIDS) at the IDEAS show in November 2012 showcased its Shahpar 470 kg (1 000 lb) UAV, with an endurance of seven hours. The aircraft is apparently ready for production and will complement GIDS’ Uqab tactical UAV, which is flown by the Pakistan Navy and Army (entering service with the latter in 2007). The Pakistan Navy is also procuring the Integrated Defence Solutions (IDS) Huma rocket-launched UAV, based on the Uqab. This has been developed into the improved Huma-1 and Huma-2 with an endurance of 5+ hours.
Pakistan’s state-owned National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) is developing the Burraq UAV, which will be fitted with a laser designator and laser-guided missiles, but the status of this programme is uncertain. Pakistan had hoped to acquire a dozen RQ-7B Shadow UAVs in three systems but this procurement project seems to be on hold. In collaboration with Selex Galileo, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex has started manufacturing the Falco UAV. In June 2012 the Pakistan Navy bought eight EMT LUNA UAVs from Germany – the Army acquired the system in 2006, which is essentially an unmanned motor glider.
Asian Defence News