Pakistan's UAV - Drone developments

[UmarJustice]

Defence Minister Naveed Qamar’s statement that Pakistan intends to build its own drone system, which is presently in its initial stage, will certainly raise eyebrows in a few world capitals. The drone aircraft would prove to be a useful weapon to fight terrorists like Al-Qaeda, Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, who are out to destabilize the country by launching attacks while hiding in the mountainous terrain of Fata. So far, CIA-operated drones have been carrying out operations against, what are termed ‘safe havens’ from where militants are accused of attacking foreign troops stationed in Afghanistan. Islamabad while seeking a halt to drone strikes in line with the parliament’s recommendations has, on several occasions asked the US to make drones available to it to enable it to more effectively attack terrorist hideouts, but in vain.It was in 2004 that the Kamra Rebuild Factory came out with an indigenous design of drones. Later, three more versions of it were designed. Kamra sought permission from the Ministry of Defence that was denied for unknown reasons. Now, the Defence Minister has indicated that Pakistan intends to start production of its own drones. Media reports suggest that there already have been several successful test flights of the pilot-less plane. One wonders why the request for production was denied, in the first place. We must equip our forces with latest weapons to make them a strong, modern fighting force.

Pakistan

Pakistan readies production of UAVs

KARACHI, Pakistan, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Pakistan Defense Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said Pakistan intends to build unmanned aerial vehicles.

Qamar made the statement in discussions with Pakistani media, the News International reported Thursday.

Pakistan's indigenous UAV industry is centered on the state-owned defense enterprise Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, east of Islamabad.

PAC has begun manufacturing Falco UAVs in collaboration with the Italian company Selex Galileo. While initially the Falco UAV system is designed purely for aerial reconnaissance and information gathering, PAC intends the vehicles eventually to be upgraded to be equipped with weapon systems to carry out offensive operations, similar to U.S. UAVs.

Pakistan originally wanted to buy UAVs from the United States but Islamabad was rebuffed in its requests, leading PAC to attempt to develop an indigenous variant. However, technical issues have slowed development of the Pakistani program.

Pakistan's aviation firms have been involved in manufacturing smaller UAVs for years, with Pakistan's Integrated Dynamics firm producing small UAVs for the government and commercial market since 1997.

Other Pakistani companies working on UAV issues include Surveillance and Target Unmanned Aircraft (Satuma) and East West Infiniti, while state-owned aviation firms produce UAVs include the Air Weapons Complex National Development Complex as well as the PAC.

But the PAC complex is the main driver behind Pakistan's UAV development. The massive PAC facility, the world's seventh largest assembly plant, is in Kamra in Punjab province, and assembles and manufactures aircraft for Pakistan's armed forces.

"PAC has acquired the capability to produce Falco XN UAV in collaboration with Selex Galileo (SG) of Italy," PAC's website states. "The UAV is a medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV designed for area reconnaissance and point surveillance.

"It has the capability to reveal targets of interest, classify them, calculate their coordinates and determine the distances between them."

In describing the Falco XN UAV, the website added: "The UAV has a high-wing monoplane connected to the central fuselage. The wing assembly is equipped with flapperons to control the lift and lateral dynamics. Tail-planes comprising two rudders and two elevators provide control for directional and longitudinal dynamics and are connected to the wing assembly through the tail-booms. ...

"The payload is mounted on the stabilized platform of the UAV and is managed through an advance Payload Management System and an Electro-Optical suite. The Electro-Optical suite includes E/O Camera, IR sensors, Thermal Imaging Systems, Laser Designator and a Surveillance Radar."

While the PAC website makes no mention of possible exports plans for the Falco XN UAV's it nevertheless touts the UAV's characteristics, noting that it is "capable of carrying wide variety of payloads; easily adaptable to meet mission requirements," has an "effective guidance and control system, suitable for both civil and military roles, mission pre-planning, re-tasking, simulation, rehearsal, and play back" and "can be flown in manual and automatic modes."

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2012/09/20/Pakistan-readies-production-of-UAVs/UPI-51871348165951/#ixzz274zwPRNO

 

[fjavaid]

If Iran and achieve this then where are our institutions .. we hv been working for so much time on this technology
@http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2012/sep/25/iran-new-military-drone-israel?cat=world&type=article
"
Iran has flexed its military might by showing off what it claims is a new "indigenous" reconnaissance drone capable of reaching Israel and launching a series of anti-warship missiles in the Persian Gulf.
In what appears to be a reaction to the recent naval exercise in the region by the US and its allies, Iran's elite revolutionary guards have unveiled an unmanned aerial vehicle, called Shahed-129 (or Witness-129), which is claimed to have a range of up to 2000 kilometres and capable of 24 hour flight."

 

[[--Leo--]]

Today in the Geo news that came up that pakistan has made the drone so what was the point of telling it?
can any buddy share the detail of that news please

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan developing combat drones


Islamabad, which publicly condemns attacks by US drones on militants in tribal areas by the Afghan border, has built its own

Email Jon Boone in Karachi guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 13 November 2012


Pakistan is on the cusp of joining an elite group of countries capable of manufacturing unmanned aircraft capable of killing as well as spying, a senior defence official has claims.

Publicly, Islamabad, which officially objects to lethal drone strikes carried out by the CIA along its border with Afghanistan, says it is only developing remote-controlled aircraft for surveillance purposes.

But last week, during a major arms fair held in Karachi, military officials briefed some of Pakistan's closest allies about efforts by the army to develop its own combat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

"The foreign delegates were quite excited by what Pakistan has achieved," said the official, who was closely involved with organising the four-day International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (Ideas). "They were briefed about a UAV that can be armed and has the capability to carry a weapon payload."

The official said Pakistan wanted to demonstrate to friendly countries, principally Turkey and the Gulf, that it can be self-sufficient in a technology that is revolutionising warfare and which is currently dominated by a handful of countries that do not readily share the capability.

"It does not have the efficiency and performance as good as Predator," he said, referring to the US combat drone widely used to attack militant targets. "But it does exist."

He gave no details about the capabilities of the aircraft, or even its name.

Huw Williams, an expert on unmanned systems at Jane's Defence Weekly, expressed doubts that Pakistan could have succeeded in progressing very far from the "pretty basic" small reconnaissance drones, which the country publicly exhibited at the weapons show, including the Shahpar and Uqab aircraft developed by the state-owned consortium Global Industrial and Defence Solutions.

"The smaller systems are not greatly beyond that of a model aircraft," he said. "But the larger, long-endurance drones are a step up in technology across the board."

Only the US and Israel are currently believed to have drones that can fire missiles. China and Turkey are also working on large-scale combat drones.

Both countries exhibited models of drones at the sprawling Karachi conference centre, which included Pakistani companies marketing everything from guns that shoot around corners to inflatable tanks intended to fox surveillance aircraft.

The big claims about Pakistan's developing drone capacity highlights the enormous interest in the technology from armies around the world.

"Everyone has been asking us whether our drones can carry weapons," said Raja Sabri Khan, chief executive of Integrated Dynamics, a company that showed off a wide range of small and mid-size reconnaissance drones. "But that's a business for the big boys only."

Khan has been deliberately refocusing his company's efforts on smaller drones, many of which are launched by hand, which are mostly intended for civilian use.

A Pakistani army colonel attending the exhibition, after recently finishing a tour fighting against militants in the country's border region, said such small drones were a vital tool.

"We have these small drones, but not enough of them and we do not always get them when we have operations," said the colonel, who did not wish to be named. "They are excellent for observing the Taliban, their movements and deployments."

It was the seventh arms fair hosted by Pakistan intended to show off the country's defence industry.

Organisers conceded that this year had not been a major commercial success but were pleased with the turnout after the last event in 2010 had to be cancelled.

Several exhibitors said Pakistani companies – many of which are directly owned by the country's military – offered a cheaper alternative to developing countries looking to buy everything from tanks to computer simulators used to train pilots.

 

[The Deterrent]

^ Here the Burraq UCAV is being referred to. Burraq was to be displayed this year at IDEAS, but was pulled off the list a couple of days before, because some indigenous components are still to be integrated with it (including an indigenous AGM).
Regards.

 

[Safriz]

http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.p...-armed-forces&catid=112:ideas-2012&Itemid=249

ntegrated Dynamics, a privately owned unmanned aerial vehicle company, has sold ten unmanned aerial vehicle systems to the Pakistan Armed Forces for perimeter surveillance, during the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar being held in the coastal city of Karachi.

Raja Sabri Khan, Chief Executive of Integrated Dynamics, said that ten Skycam systems had been bought by the Pakistan Armed Forces. The Skycam is a hand-launched micro-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can fly at an altitude of 300+ metres over a range of 5 to ten kilometres. A complete Skycam system comprises two UAVs with cameras, a ground control station, data and communication links and antennas. The Skycam costs $1 000. Speed is 10-30 km/h and endurance is 30 minutes.

Karachi-based Integrated Dynamics in the past produced UAVs primarily for the Pakistani military but is now moving into the civil arena, where it is focusing on markets like law enforcement, surveillance, surveying etc. The company manufactures 15 different UAVs, most of which are small – the smallest weighs just 800 grams.

Khan said that his company has exported its products to such places as the United States, Australia, Spain, Libya and South Korea. The Border Eagle system is being used by the United States for border patrol. Khan added that potential South African customers had approached the company regarding the use of its UAVs for anti-poaching missions. However, no sales have yet been forthcoming from South Africa.

Khan emphasised the peaceful nature of UAVs, saying the vast majority are built without weapons. The company has launched its Drones for Peace initiative, which is a collaboration between academia and Integrated Dynamics to showcase the peaceful uses of UAVs and other unmanned vehicles to the general public.

A wide variety of Integrated Dynamics’ UAVs were on display at IDEAS 2012, including its Skycam 1 and 2 lightweight vehicles and Hummer vertical takeoff and landing UAV. These are being promoted under the Drones for Peace project. The UAVs can carry cameras or thermal sensors. Both platforms weigh less than 2 kg.

Some of Integrated Dynamics UAVs include the Desert Hawk, Border Eagle, Hornet, Hawk, Vision, Shadow and Vector systems, designed for conventional landing and take-off, but which can be modified for ramp-launch and parachute recovery systems.

Target and decoy UAVs include the mini jet-powered Tornado decoy, piston Nishan Mk II and jet-powered Nishan TJ-1000. Integrated Dynamics’ main civilian products are the Rover and Explorer systems, which can be operated in both UAV and RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle) modes.

Pakistan’s UAV industry is fairly well developed and is expanding rapidly. Several companies produce UAVs, including Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (Uqaab, for the Pakistan Army and Ababeel and Baaz target drones), Air Weapons Complex (Bravo+/Jasoos II for the Pakisitan Air Force) and Integrated Defence Solutions (Huma-1). In collaboration with Selex Galileo, Pakistan Aeronautical Complex has started manufacturing the Falco UAV.

Privately owned UAV firms include Satuma (Surveillance and Target Unmanned Aircraft), which produces UAVs like the Flamingo, Jasoos, Bravo+ and Mukhbar.

 

[Kompromat]

^ Here the Burraq UCAV is being referred to. Burraq was to be displayed this year at IDEAS, but was pulled off the list a couple of days before, because some indigenous components are still to be integrated with it (including an indigenous AGM).
Regards.

Roughly, what size would it be and when would it be unveiled? - What about weapons and sensors, are the imported or locally made?

 

[mjnaushad]

^ Here the Burraq UCAV is being referred to. Burraq was to be displayed this year at IDEAS, but was pulled off the list a couple of days before, because some indigenous components are still to be integrated with it (including an indigenous AGM).
Regards.

speculation or source?

 

[Luftwaffe]

What is Pakistan developing MQ-1/9/C? Why is it kept so secret. Too late, Pakistan should now invest in Yi Long UCAV And Or Pterodactyl drone.

 

[The Deterrent]

Roughly, what size would it be and when would it be unveiled? - What about weapons and sensors, are the imported or locally made?

It is ready, but with some imported components of the airframe. Hopefully it would be developed completely within a year. It is based on a foreign (speculating chinese CH-3 here) uav, so don't expect too much. The similarity of design was one of the reasons of not exhibiting it this year. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Shahpar UAV's airframe also closely resembles that of the CH-3.
The weapon (AGM) is indigenous (not entirely of course) and is in advanced stage of development. Datalinks and mission computer are locally developed, but don't know much about the sensors.
P.S. Nobody should get his hopes too high.

speculation or source?

Source is NESCOM.

 

[The Deterrent]

What is Pakistan developing MQ-1/9/C? Why is it kept so secret. Too late, Pakistan should now invest in Yi Long UCAV And Or Pterodactyl drone.

It is not about secrecy, they just don't disclose the details of a system before it is completely developed. Moreover, Burraq is the learning step for Pakistan, and we just don't have that highly trained engineers who can work with AVIC to joint-venture Wing Loong / Pterodactyl.

Do you really think that Pakistan can strike TTP by just having some really good UCAVs? A whole setup of real-time Ground Surveillance using satellites and communication interceptors is required for successful missions. And I don't think that era of UCAVs vs. Tanks has arrived yet (against India).

 

[SEAL]

It is ready, but with some imported components of the airframe. Hopefully it would be developed completely within a year. It is based on a foreign (speculating chinese CH-3 here) uav, so don't expect too much. The similarity of design was one of the reasons of not exhibiting it this year. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Shahpar UAV's airframe also closely resembles that of the CH-3.
The weapon (AGM) is indigenous (not entirely of course) and is in advanced stage of development. Datalinks and mission computer are locally designed, but don't know much about the sensors.
P.S. Nobody should get his hopes too high.



Source is NESCOM.

Predator jyse hoti to zaida acha hota.

 

[Thorough Pro]

A very important element of an integrated UAV/UCAV system with decent range is a satelite which can act as a communication bridge between control station and the bird. We will not see a fully functional effective UAV/UCAV systemuntill our GPS satellite does not become fully functional (reported earlier to be functionalby June 2013).

Untill then it's all talk

 

[TVVELVEMO$]

If I may make a recommendation, Pakistan should put away all the aforementioned unremarkable toy UAVs and move up to the CH-4 [NOT CH-3]; now that look like serious stuff...IYKWIM. When that thing flies, it will be the most Reaper-esque drone Chinese have come up with. Maybe after wasting some money & time on CH-3, Pakistan will trade up to CH-4. So many toys and so little money to choose with.......

 

[The Deterrent]

A very important element of an integrated UAV/UCAV system with decent range is a satelite which can act as a communication bridge between control station and the bird. We will not see a fully functional effective UAV/UCAV systemuntill our GPS satellite does not become fully functional (reported earlier to be functionalby June 2013).

Untill then it's all talk

Not necessarily. Satellite based datalinks are necessary for UAVs operating too far away from the control stations (like some MQ-9s are controlled by operators in UK and USA).
For Pakistan to control UAVs inside Pakistan is no big deal, datalinks can be provided. An example is the Shahpar UAV, it can transmit real-time data from over 250 km away from the control station.