In line with the modernization of the Indian Air Force (IAF) with the acquisition of French Rafales and indigenous light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas MK1A, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is preparing to convert its only Bombardier Global 6000 into a stand-off aircraft. proceeding. Interdiction of aircraft (SOJ) was carried out with the support of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).
It will be adopted by the PAF in 2022 for VIP transport missions and will function as a special mission aircraft. The need for the PAF stems from what the force learned from Operation Swift Retort, which was carried out against India in 2019 in response to the Indian Air Force’s cross-border Balakot airstrikes.
Kwa said the PAF was aware that “any future invasion of India” would be met with “further escalation of air and surface threats” and hinted at the IAF’s acquisition of Russian S-400 ‘Growlers’. ing.
IAF has placed a large order for LCA Mk1A. It is an “agile, highly maneuverable, light fighter aircraft configured with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) and EW/ECM suite, and is set to replace the aging MiG-21 Bison.”
“Not only does it perform dramatically better than the MiG-21, but it also poses a credible threat to PAF fighters across the border, including the newly adopted J-10CE and the prized F-16 Block-52. ,” the report states. Said.
“In addition, the IAF will have at its disposal Dassault Rafale, improved Sukhoi Su-30MKI, and a range of advanced medium-range and long-range surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).Finally, these assets will , which will result in countermeasures that are quite different from those in 2019,” the report added.
The first hint was that the PAF intended to convert the Global 6000 into a special mission aircraft in the latest calendar, and the VIP transport aircraft was labeled as an electronic warfare platform. PAF’s unofficial publication “Second-to-None” confirmed these plans.
The decision to convert was taken after the PAF realized the power of electronic warfare through Operation Swift Retort. During the mission, the PAF deployed a large force of multi-role fighters, attack fighters, and several special mission aircraft, namely Falcon DA-20 EW aircraft and Saab 2000-based Eliai Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft.
Learning from the Balakot strike
The Balakot episode revealed the tactical gap between the PAF and the Pakistan Army. The IAF was able to easily carry out attacks deep into Pakistani territory, shocking military authorities.
Additionally, the attack took place during peacetime, negating the concept of nuclear deterrence. Until 2019, Pakistan believed its nuclear arsenal could deter a military attack by India that could lead to escalation. However, India ignored the nuclear umbrella and carried out the attack.
In 2019, Pakistan recognized that nuclear weapons alone would not deter India’s punitive attacks and began investing in conventional forces based on land, sea, and air. In other words, traditional deterrence has become essential for Pakistan despite its economic woes.
The PAF’s modernization plan this decade has been driven by Pakistan’s experience in the 2019 Balakot operation against India, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, and the availability of advanced military technology from key partners such as China and Turkey. is driven by three factors: an increase in
The goal is to build an air wing specializing in long-range air strikes and air interdiction to deter potential adversaries from repeating operations like the Balakot attack.
Given TAI’s involvement in the Global 6000 modification, it is assumed that the force will acquire the Aselsan HAVSOJ suite, which Turkey is using to form four Global 6000s for the Turkish Air Force. Aselsan HAVASOJ is equipped for his three core electronic warfare missions: radar jamming, communications jamming, and electronic intelligence (ELINT).
In the case of radar jamming, HAVASOJ uses transceivers to record the enemy radar’s transmission frequency and jam it by retransmitting using the same signal. HAVASOJ is equipped with a Digital Radar Frequency Memory (DRFM) system to help achieve this capability.
In the ELINT role, HAVASOJ monitors all enemy radar and communications transmissions in the area. That information is recorded in a “threat library” and later fed into electronic countermeasures (ECM) tasks such as radar and communications jamming.
However, PAF is yet to finalize Aselsan HAVASOJ. There may still be opportunities for other vendors to jump in. The report also suggests that the PAF may be considering a customized version of the HAVASOJ equipped with only one or two of the EW roles.
“In this scenario, the PAF would likely prioritize radar jamming over other functions (which could be delegated to other aircraft such as the Falcon DA-20, drones, and land electronic warfare systems),” the report adds.
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air defense gap
Another capability gap that Pakistan had in 2019 was the lack of surface-to-air missiles with sufficient range. In Operation Swift Retort, the PAF relied heavily on its fighter fleet to deny access to enemy aircraft. The longest-range Vector in the PAF’s fleet was the MBDA Spada 2000-Plus, which had a range of 20 km.
The PAF’s surface-to-air missiles are deployed to protect strategic assets, not to deter enemy air operations. Since 2019, the PAF has not only invested in acquiring new fighter aircraft but also built a new and robust Ground Based Air Defense System (GBADS).
Ukraine’s effective use of GBADS to limit enemy air power prompted Pakistani decision-makers to invest in adequate air defense.
However, it is worth noting that in addition to medium- and long-range SAMs, the PAF has also laid the groundwork for utilizing directed energy weapons and passive air defense means. This was likely done to counter the threat of roaming weapons and swarming drones.
The new PAF GBADS is a multi-layered system consisting of long-range, medium-range and short-range SAMs, as well as other active and passive anti-aircraft systems such as directed energy weapons (DEW) and electronic attack (EA) systems.
- Ritu Sharma has been a journalist for over a decade, writing about defense, foreign affairs and nuclear technology.
- The author can be contacted at ritu.sharma (at) mail.com.
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