Pakistan Navy Aviation

Toxic said:
Why not go for an original solution with the AW139 and have Leonardo convert them into proper ASW helicopters?
Click to expand...
itll be expensive but i think realisticcally thats what will happen. Really and truly, all the ASW helos use the same gear anyway, thales flash sonar, we have our own sonoboiys and torpedos, leonardo SSRs ecm etc.

But then, we can see there was a massive missed opportunity. We could have set up a production line locally, the PAF bought 21, the Army 7, the Navy will likely need double digits too. Thats atleast 40-50 airframes.

But...
The army has an aging fleet of 45 pumas alongside another 30 alouette type helicopters. So were in the 100+ range, which coukd have built decent local capability if we took this approach
 
arslank01 said:
itll be expensive but i think realisticcally thats what will happen. Really and truly, all the ASW helos use the same gear anyway, thales flash sonar, we have our own sonoboiys and torpedos, leonardo SSRs ecm etc.

But then, we can see there was a massive missed opportunity. We could have set up a production line locally, the PAF bought 21, the Army 7, the Navy will likely need double digits too. Thats atleast 40-50 airframes.

But...
The army has an aging fleet of 45 pumas alongside another 30 alouette type helicopters. So were in the 100+ range, which coukd have built decent local capability if we took this approach
Click to expand...
Realistically The 139s are kinda too expensive to replace the Puma's and we have the Alouette replacement with the Fennec, given the state of our economy I don't see local production Although getting local overhauling facilities here is doable.
 
Last edited:
arslank01 said:
Actually, the sea king is quite good at what it does. The 101 is a terrible replacement. First and foremost the Sea king is a SAR/Transporter. The 101 is really only good at one of those missions. Im good friends with a Royal Navy maintenance tech who works on the 101, they tend to be quite unreliable, but above all else, the issue comes when its time for the SAR role, theyre just too powerful. When i discussed it with him, the rotor downwash has a tendency to push casualties/people under water, making it really tough to recover them. They've only recently been retired and i think the PN should keep them as dedicated SAR assets.

The issue with the 159 is that it has little to no endurance, making it pretty questionable for an antisub mission. The UK's 159s carry no accoustic gear, only torpedos, the sensing is done by the 101 and the killing by the 159. South Korea had theirs fitted with dipping sonar, but with 2x torpedo and a dipping sonar the endurance is only 1 hour, which is really not ideal. You cannot do any meaningful sub hunting with it.

The 101 is still not ideal, it would need modifying, the NH90 is a joke, with cost per flight hour rivalling F-15's
Click to expand...

Yeah, you are right, thats why I mentioned choppers in their size class. Realistically non Chinese and non - US options are limited.

Sea Hawk would have been the dream. Turks already use it on MILGEM so would have been easy to slot into Babur and Jinnah ships. We could have also got a basic version just for SSGN Transport and SAR thus replacing the Sea King.

Supporting the Sea King will become harder and harder I imagine, we bought some from the UK second hand to induct and use for spare but these things are old now, think we have had a couple of fatal accidents already

A navalised AW139 probably is a great solution consideiring PAF/PA usage, just that PN would have to foot the bill in time and money for Leonardo to develop this. Although we are doing that with Sea Sultan already so who knows, maybe this is a project PN could be working on?
 
studsmart said:
why cant we consider Z20F customized for PN?
Click to expand...

Suppose, but similar problem, how do you make a chinese chopper compatible with the surface fleet that will mostly be of western origin?
 
agidest said:
Why? if Pakistan is willing to pay, shouldn't be a problem to acquire.
Click to expand...
US concerns re: technology going to the Chinese, especially as the Chinese are working on their own mainstay utility and naval helicopters (Z-20).
 
Quwa said:
US concerns re: technology going to the Chinese, especially as the Chinese are working on their own mainstay utility and naval helicopters (Z-20).
Click to expand...

And I imagine the same MH-60Rs the US use to hunt Chinese subs.
 
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Pakistan Defence Latest

Country Watch Latest

Latest Posts

Share this page

Back
Top