Mar. 27, 2013
Pakistan’s satellite capabilities are at a very early stage, however, so no such decision is expected soon.
While relying on Chinese satellite assets would seem highly advantageous, Quintana highlights some drawbacks.
“Using Chinese SATCOM would definitely hinder the Pakistanis from obtaining U.S. equipment that requires the use of SATCOM — MALE [medium-altitude, long-endurance] UAVs, such as Predator, for example,” she said.
Such an arrangement would give Beijing considerable influence over its South Asian ally.
“This is the problem for any small nation wishing to take advantage of investments that larger, more powerful allies have already made,” Quintana said.
Benefits Pakistan could derive from sharing bandwidth on a Chinese satellite, Quintana said, include access to a dedicated asset it may not be able to acquire for itself and access to China’s Beidou satellites. And in times of conflict, an enemy might refrain from attacking these assets for fear of drawing China into the fight.
“Additionally, if Pakistani systems utilize multiple [positioning, navigating and targeting] systems Beidou/GPS/Glonass/Galileo, it enhances resilience in the event of service failure or jamming,” Quintana said.
Having access to Chinese satellites would give Pakistan a signals relay capability, the lack of which has hindered the operation of MALE and high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAVs.
The data-link range of Pakistan’s tactical UAVs is stated as 200 to 250 kilometers.
Raja Sabri Khan, chief executive of Integrated Dynamics,
a high-profile Pakistan UAV developer, said designing new types with the “performances to allow utilization of satellite communication links to their fullest potential” could become reality with a SATCOM capability.
All of the technological building blocks and technologies to develop MALE UAVs are in place, he said.
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