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DUBAI, Nov 14: The armed forces have broken the back of militancy in the tribal areas, but that is only half the battle, chief of the Pakistan Air Force said here on Monday.
“Offensive military engagement could only accomplish 10 to 15 per cent of the task of pacifying tribal areas. The rest must be done through dialogue, winning hearts and minds through economic development of these very poor regions,” Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman said in an address to a conference of air chiefs.
According to Pakistan Air Force (PAF), it has carried out more than 5,500 sorties over the tribal regions since May 2008.
The Aviation International Times described the speech as a rare glimpse into the armed forces’ attempt to counter domestic terrorism from the air.
When the Pakistan Army launched an operation in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) in Aug 2008, the PAF had to rely on Google Earth imagery before planning air support missions, the AIT report recalled.
However, by the time the Army was ready to move against insurgents in the Swat valley in May 2009, the PAF had acquired Goodrich DB-110 electro-optical reconnaissance pods for its F-16 fighters, together with the same company’s ground station for imagery exploitation.
Intelligence analysts could now identify terrorist training camps, ammunition dumps and command and control facilities. Some of these targets were camouflaged well, and protected by bunkers, Air Chief Marshall Suleman noted.
Two days before the ground offensive was launched, the PAF started a series of interdiction missions, and followed up with close air support throughout the six-month campaign. From the imagery collected by the PAF, the Army was able to identify suitable landing zones for the airdrop of commandos.
And before the Army turned its attention to South Waziristan in Oct 2009, the PAF conducted a seven-day campaign.
“The PAF has overhauled its tactics and strategy for conduct of irregular warfare,” the air chief said. Laser-guided bombs were used in 80 per cent of strikes, he revealed.
Avoiding collateral damage was a primary concern, he explained, since “we were engaging targets within our own country. We engaged isolated structures only, away from populated areas”.
More than 10,600 bombs were dropped and 4,600 targets destroyed during the sorties, he said.
VIABILITY OF JF-17: Five countries in the Middle East are evaluating the JF-17 as an affordable replacement fighter at the Dubai air show, the air chief said at a press briefing hosted by PAF and China Aviation Technology Import-Export Corporation (CATIC) on the sidelines of the Dubai Air Show.
The five countries could send pilots to Pakistan to evaluate the JF-17 single-engine fighter, he said.
The CATIC is a government-owned company responsible for China’s aerospace defence exports.
It has long been known that the Chinese armed forces have been following the JF-17 programme closely, but most industry observers have shared the view that it prefers to focus on replacing older aircraft with J-10A, J-10B and Shenyang J-11.
The PAF chief said JF-17 was two to three times cheaper than its rivals on a flyaway basis, making it economical to run.
Air Commodore Khalid Mahmood, deputy chief project director (operations) for the JF-17 programme, said there was a potential market of 4,000-5,000 aircraft as air forces were looking to replace Mikoyan Mig-21s, Mig-23s, Mig-29s and Northrop F-5s.
“There is no plane that gives this much capability at this cost,” Air Commodore Mahmood said. The aircraft carried out 10,000 sorties for PAF, he said. “We have two active squadrons of 16-18 aircraft each. The third squadron will be activated in coming months.”—PPI
