October 18, 2003	Saturday	Sha'aban 21, 1424

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LAHORE, Oct 17: Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat has said that the balance of conventional weapons can maintain peace in the region.

He was talking to reporters after inaugurating the three-day second Air Show jointly organized by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and Ultralight and Sports Flying Club (USFC) at Walton Aerodrome on Friday.

Saadat said the president, the prime minister and he himself had visited the US and discussed security issues in South Asia. But America, he said, had its own priorities with regard to Pakistan and India.

He said resentment against America was increasing in Pakistan as it sought cent per cent security for its citizens but did not care for the security of the Pakistanis in the US.

According to APP: Air chief said Pakistan was taking appropriate steps to counter the purchase of Phalcon radar system by India.

“I would not go into details, but everything is going well and you will hear a good news by June next.”

Regarding the purchase of F-16s from Belgian and Dutch air forces, he said they had restructured their forces and the equipment was in excess to their requirement. Therefore, they were looking for buyers.

He said the Belgium F-16s were of the same vintage as those of the PAF and their induction would pose no problems for us. However, he said the Dutch warplanes were of the more advanced version.

The air chief said new Hercules transport aircraft, which Pakistan was purchasing from the US, would join PAF after all the necessary details had been worked out.

Saadat said the PAF had signed a contract with Indonesia for the purchase of four CN-235 transport aircraft. “Two aircraft are expected to reach Pakistan by November next month and the remaining two next year.”

He said the second prototype of JF-17 Thunder, jointly manufactured by Pakistan and China, would fly in March-April next year. “We’ll have a total of three prototypes to join the flight test programme next year during which the aircraft would be checked for its various capabilities.”

He said the next step would be the manufacturing of small batch of these aircraft to undergo further testing and validation of all the systems.

“Thereafter, we hope to produce 16 planes, eight each, for PAF and its Chinese counterpart. That will subsequently lead to serial production presently programmed for June 2006.”

When asked about frequent air crashes of PAF planes, he admitted the attrition rate was a ‘bit high’ and explained that Mirage fleet was 34 years old.

“The original manufacturers have stopped producing some of the parts and we are not getting as much support as we should.

“At the same time, it is not possible for us to ground the aircraft also because for any air force to be ready the pilots must fly certain minimum hours.

“We take a little bit of risk and we do our best to maintain those planes from whatever resources and methods we have. But essentially it is the process of aging of the fleet.”

Asked whether Pakistan was buying Mirage-2000 from Qatar, the ACM said Pakistan would not buy the aircraft because their number was not enough given the complexities regarding the maintenance, training and logistics system were concerned.

“Our original plan is that if France agrees to a larger number of aircraft, we will opt for them,” he said.

“So far, there has been no clear indication whether they do want to give Mirage-2000 to us.”

Speaking to air show participants earlier, Saadat said the Show 2003 would help introduce people to the thrill and joy the flying had.

He also inspected over three dozen ultralight— two to six seater aircraft — participating in the air show. The show participants also witnessed aerobatics by Mushshak aircraft. Six PAF sky-divers also displayed their diving skills at the show.

The show organizers are also offering joy rides at Rs800 per person.

A large number of people saw the show that will continue on Saturday (today) and Sunday.