Pakistan's Special mission aircrafts Information Pool

[HRK]

Does it mean it is possible that some new goodies may have been added/upgraded to these birds in-house?

logic dictates it should be but in reality I have no idea ....

 

[nomi007]

He is not wrong previously it was overhauled in France, but this pic which is showing DA-20 in Mirage Rebuild Factory on 29th April, 2018 after completion of 30 years of service in PAF [inducted in 1987] indicates the possibility of in house overhaul of this aircraft type, we can see some sort of work is under progress on its fuselage
View attachment 614980

@Bossman

DA-20 performed really well during 27 feb raid. I think only three of such aircrafts are not enough for PAF. we have to consider the Turkish EW project for future need.

 

[HRK]

we have to consider the Turkish EW project for future need.

$$$ .....???

 

[nomi007]

$$$ .....???

good question

 

[MIRauf]

if it ( EW, Special Mission ) can provide protection to a squadron worth of aircraft ( 16 * $25 Million, or 16 * $65 Million, ) then its money well spent. Unless off course if PAF thinks that it has adequate number of EW / suppressor / blinders support aircraft, or the self protection EW pods can adequately protect the package.

 

[Keysersoze]

if it ( EW, Special Mission ) can provide protection to a squadron worth of aircraft ( 16 * $25 Million, or 16 * $65 Million, ) then its money well spent. Unless off course if PAF thinks that it has adequate number of EW / suppressor / blinders support aircraft, or the self protection EW pods can adequately protect the package.

You are forgetting that the erieye (and possibly the zdk 3)has ew functions. Combine that with the EW pods and you have fairly potent EW contingent. The only thing missing would be a good SEAD option.

 

[HRK]

You are forgetting that the erieye (and possibly the zdk 3)has ew functions. Combine that with the EW pods and you have fairly potent EW contingent. The only thing missing would be a good SEAD option.

If I am not wrong Erieye only have SIGINT and ELINT capabilities not the Electronic attack or jamming capabilities

 

[Incog_nito]

Why not PAC partner with EU or American Aircraft Manufacturers in order to develop Aircraft that can be used in such roles?

I guess Saab, will be one of the best options. As they can revive their programs or bring up something new:

• Saab Safari ( can be used for a MALE UCAV).
• Saab-340
• Saab-2000

I didn't mean making exactly the same aircraft but something in similar class but with modern technology.

PAF already has some Saab-2000 as AEW&Cs and 1 for training & transport.

PAF should buy some more to convert them for ELINT/SGNIT & reconnaissance roles.

 

[Keysersoze]

If I am not wrong Erieye only have SIGINT and ELINT capabilities not the Electronic attack or jamming capabilities

This is worth a read...

The NGJ-MB integrates GaN-based AESA antennas. Power is provided by a ram air turbine. Source: Raytheon
Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) technology, typically associated with radar systems, is being explored to aid electronic warfare (EW) equipment.

AESAs use multitudes of transmit/receive (TR) modules on their surface. In the radar domain, each of these modules acts as its own miniature radar generating a radio frequency (RF) signal and waveform, transmitting it and receiving and processing the radar’s echo as it is bounces off an object in the radar’s field-of-view.

AESAs can perform electronic beam-steering, meaning the array can steer the direction of the beam it transmits without the antenna having to physically move, just as a person can see in different directions by moving their eyes but not their head.

“Beam steering allows you to develop a very narrow transmit beam which can be electronically steered,” Dr Nitzan Barkay, Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) ELTA Systems’ intelligence, EW, and communications division’s chief technology officer, said during the Electronic Warfare Europe conference in Stockholm in May. AESA also enables individual TR modules to perform different tasks simultaneously. In the radar domain, this can translate into simultaneous air-to-air and air-to-ground surveillance. In the EW domain, this could provide the ability to “jam several targets of different frequencies simultaneously”, Barkay said.

For example, a fighter aircraft equipped with an AESA EW system could, in theory, simultaneously jam a hostile fighter aircraft’s X-band fire control radar, which tend to transmit in wavebands of 8.5 GHz to 10.68 GHz, an incoming air-to-air missile’s Ka-band (33.4 GHz to 36 GHz) radar seeker, and a ground-based air surveillance radar’s C-band (5.25 GHz to 5.925 GHz) transmissions.

The ability to generate complex jamming waveforms using the AESA’s TR modules could also help EW attacks obviate countermeasures. Current and future radar are likely to use ever more sophisticated electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM) techniques, and radar can increasingly recognise that they are being jammed and discount or filter out this jamming.

https://www.janes.com/article/89293/aesa-technology-could-migrate-to-electronic-warfare-equipment

Block 2 version of US Navy fighter set to become first to use active array for electronic attack duties

Boeing's F/A-18E/F Block 2 Super Hornet is set to become the first fighter to use its active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for electronic attack, with a planned software upgrade to allow its array of transmit/receive (T/R) modules to be used as a powerful directional jammer.

Under a "sensor integration" plan being drawn up, the Raytheon APG-79 AESA will be linked to the Raytheon ALR-67 radar warning receiver (RWR) via the fighter's fibre-optic network switch. The radar's ground mapping capability will then be used to pinpoint emitters detected by the RWR.

"This will allow us to begin single-ship geolocation of emitters," says Capt BD Gaddis, US Navy F/A-18 programme manager. The F/A-18E/F's BAE Systems ALQ-214 electronic countermeasures suite will also be integrated so the aircraft can jam emitters. "We will put the -214 jamming signal through the AESA T/R modules to put power on to the emitter," he says.

Although the capability has been widely discussed, it appears the Block 2 Super Hornet will be the first aircraft able to use its AESA for electronic attack. Rival radar manufacturer Northrop Grumman says its APG-77(V)1 and APG-81 AESAs for the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35, respectively, will have the capability, but it is not in currently funded plans.

Funding will determine when the sensor integration upgrade takes place, with the capability planned for the budget cycle beginning in fiscal year 2010. The USN is now selecting F/A-18E/F upgrades for funding beginning in FY08, Gaddis says, with candidates including an infrared search-and-track sensor; high off-boresight capability for the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile; datalinks for the AIM-9X air-to-air missile and JSOW stand-off weapon; night vision capability for the JHMCS helmet-mounted display; and an AESA electronic counter-countermeasures upgrade.

To pave the way for sensor integration, Boeing has been funded to upgrade the F/A-18E/F's advanced mission computer (AMC). The new Type 3 AMC will be fielded beginning next year, and the navy plans to upgrade AESA-equipped aircraft, taking the Type 2 AMCs out and retrofitting them to older non-AESA Super Hornets to achieve a single software standard across the fleet.

Under current plans, the USN will end up with 406 AESA-equipped Super Hornets, including EA-18G Growler dedicated electronic-attack variants. This number includes 135 earlier Block 2 aircraft that will be retrofitted with the radar from 2010, Gaddis says. The first AESA-equipped squadron is working up for fleet deployment later this year.

https://www.flightglobal.com/f/a-18e/f-to-use-aesa-as-jammer/68822.article

 

[MIRauf]

You are forgetting that the erieye (and possibly the zdk 3)has ew functions. Combine that with the EW pods and you have fairly potent EW contingent. The only thing missing would be a good SEAD option.

If you know for sure that Erieye can perform EW then sure go ahead count them as well, however a dedicated EW is much desirable then the multi-role AWAC / AEW.

Now your attachment talks about GaN based, I am not sure if PAF Erieye are GaN or GaA type, I am leaning towards GaA then GaN based T/Rs, but this assumption is based on my guesswork.

 

[Imran Khan]

 

[ARMalik]

Ok look I wanted to post this photo somewhere and I decided to post it here because this is a thing of beauty, like a Black shining rattle snake. I came across it on another forum - IOMAX Archangel attack plane.
If Pakistan had it, it would be been such a wonderful site.

 

[airomerix]

Blinders

 

[untitled]

Blinders
View attachment 632762

Why is this aircraft parked on grass?

 

[airomerix]

Why is this aircraft parked on grass?

It's not. There is a narrow taxiway to the apron there.