Old/New Articles and News item about PAF

Fatman17 said:
Should be in the PAF archives section. Old hat and nothing happened
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Perhaps you could find out as who moved the thread into this section as I originally did post it in PAF Archive section .
 
SABRE said:
Mirages had strike capability, F-20 was multirole but had limited strike capability, which was further confined due to President Carter's directive (Conventional Arms Transfer or CAT). In fact, F-20 was developed specifically to cater to CAT.

However, F-20 was being offered with ToT to Pakistan, including export/reexport provision. Pakistan should have taken the option along side F-16s. I think the problem arose when the pilot in question - very likely on behest of PAF - requested to flight-test the complete package, i.e., aircraft with weapons integrated on it. Northrop did not approve of it. I wonder if they even had the final - weapons integrated - prototype.

Someone who has more knowledge on this should weigh in further. My memory is very hazy. Might also be incorrect.
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Doesn't matter how you spin it , one has to be a hardcore F20 fan who will go gaga over it ..... simply put , F20 had no buyers... there is no way Pakistan would have benefitted even with tot , there was no economy of scales....after pressler amendment F20 would have become an albatross on our neck
 
SABRE said:
Mirages had strike capability, F-20 was multirole but had limited strike capability, which was further confined due to President Carter's directive (Conventional Arms Transfer or CAT). In fact, F-20 was developed specifically to cater to CAT.

However, F-20 was being offered with ToT to Pakistan, including export/reexport provision. Pakistan should have taken the option along side F-16s. I think the problem arose when the pilot in question - very likely on behest of PAF - requested to flight-test the complete package, i.e., aircraft with weapons integrated on it. Northrop did not approve of it. I wonder if they even had the final - weapons integrated - prototype.

Someone who has more knowledge on this should weigh in further. My memory is very hazy. Might also be incorrect.
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I think it was bad luck all around. Northrop was having trouble with selling the fighter on one end, and then had to bankroll it alone on the other. The PAF was not going to commit to anything without complete testing, but Northrop didn't want to risk it (ironically, they'd lose the prototype anyways).
Metal 0-1 said:
Mirage F1 ToT. What a time to be alive
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PAF interest in the Mirage F1 was on-and-off. They had considered it back in the mid-1970s, but funding got tight around that time. Then (at least acc. to WikiLeaks), the Carter Admin offered to arrange 3rd party financing for both the Mirage F-1 and Mirage 2000 as an alternative to the PAF's request for F-16s. That obviously fell to the wayside once Reagan came. And then, finally, it was considered a last time as part of the program to replace the F-6.

I personally love the F-1, but the PAF folks who flew it in the Middle East had all said that while it was good, it was underpowered. The PAF apparently did request Dassault to load a turbofan into it, but with the M2K available, they had no incentive.

Ultimately, what surprised me the most was that the PAF didn't go for the Mirage 50-series in the 1980s at all. It largely repurposed the Mirage III/5 airframe, but gave it the F-1's engine. I think that would've been a relatively good solution for replacing the F-6s with full ToT, especially how we would, ultimately, keep the M3/5s running forever. If we had gotten the Mirage 50, we could've developed our own Cheetah or Kfir platform in the 1990s with French and South African help, and that would've kept us in good shape for a long, long time. @Oscar @arslank01

IMO, that type of solution would've bought the PAF serious flexibility and time where it didn't need to expedite the Super-7 project. They would've had their BVR and SOW platform in the locally-built Mirage 50.

In that context, perhaps more time could've been spent on a homegrown fighter with (1) a more sophisticated design with relaxed stability and fully digital FBW and (2) carrying out the aircraft development work in Pakistan, albeit with Chinese assistance. @JamD
 
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On June 07, 2002, a Pakistan Air Force F-16 Falcon flown by Sqn Ldr Zulfiqar shot down an Indian Searcher-II UAV (of israeli origin) with an AIM-9L sidewinder missile at an altitude of 13000 ft ---over the Dogran Kalan village, just southwest of Lahore Punjab.

ACM Mir's statement:
"The UAV was spotted by the mobile observation units when it crossed into Pakistani territory and was immediately gunned down."

The wreckage photos show the remains of a AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM, probably the one which downed the UAV. AIM-9L is the more sophisticated than the AIM-9P version of the missile, which is also in service with the PAF.

The incident was later confirmed by Indian Defence Ministry.

Credit: Abu Zolfiqar
 
Pakistan Space Agency said:
@HemlockKhalid/AeronautIR
I learnt of this incident after watching your podcast on YouTube and started searching for information.

Thanks brother.
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Most welcome mate. It was the first ever night kill of UAV by a fighter jet anywhere in the world.
My uncle Sqn Ldr Afzal Awan was in back seat and I heard the story from him. He has a piece of that UAV in his home too. Sqn Ldr Zulfiqar Ayub was in front. Both were serving in 9 sqn.
 
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HemlockKhalid/AeronautIR said:
Most welcome mate. It was the first ever night kill of UAV by a fighter jet anywhere in the world.
My uncle Sqn Ldr Afzal Awan was in back seat and I heard the story from him. He has a piece of that UAV in his home too. Sqn Ldr Zulfiqar Ayub was in front. Both were serving in 9 sqn.
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It was also the only jet in the PAF fleet capable of such. The F-7s and F-6s were day point interceptors at best with the Mirages still in between upgrades of which only the Bandits had some night interception capability.
 
HemlockKhalid/AeronautIR said:
Most welcome mate. It was the first ever night kill of UAV by a fighter jet anywhere in the world.
My uncle Sqn Ldr Afzal Awan was in back seat and I heard the story from him. He has a piece of that UAV in his home too. Sqn Ldr Zulfiqar Ayub was in front. Both were serving in 9 sqn.
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Link to the podcast Please?
I remember this incident when it actually happened. Was in the "Khabarnama"
 
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HemlockKhalid/AeronautIR said:
Most welcome mate. It was the first ever night kill of UAV by a fighter jet anywhere in the world.
My uncle Sqn Ldr Afzal Awan was in back seat and I heard the story from him. He has a piece of that UAV in his home too. Sqn Ldr Zulfiqar Ayub was in front. Both were serving in 9 sqn.
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the -9L most probably cost more than the UAV :)
 
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