PAF Confirms Talks for Purchasing Russian Su-35

(IHS Janes)The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has discussed buying Su-35 'Flanker-E' fighter aircraft from Russia in potentially the largest defence deal between the two countries, but a final decision is yet to be made, a senior Pakistani government official has confirmed to IHS Jane's .

The official was responding to Russian media reports that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had said talks were underway for an unspecified number of Su-35s, which follow a recent agreement to provide Mi-35M 'Hind E' attack helicopters to Islamabad.

While the official said "it's too early to say if a deal will conclude and the terms", the fact that discussions have taken place shows Russia's willingness to sell advanced hardware with Pakistan despite Moscow's longstanding ties with India.

The official said Pakistan's interest in the Su-35 was driven by the PAF's need for a twin-engine fighter "that can fly for a longer range than the JF-17 and penetrate more deeply into the enemy's territory". The PAF flies a mixed fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16s, Dassault Mirage-5s, Chinese-manufactured F-7s, and the JF-17 Thunder, which is jointly produced by China and Pakistan.

In November 2014 a senior Pakistani official told IHS Jane's that Pakistan was in discussions with China to buy 30 to 40 FC-31s - the export version of China's J-31 fifth-generation platform. At the time, the official told IHS Jane's that Pakistan was interested in the platform partly because it was fitted with two RD-93 Russian Klimov engines, which also powers the JF-17. PAF officials have also told IHS Jane's in the past that they have considered the purchase of up to 40 Chengdu J-10 fighters.

ANALYSIS

So, It is official now!

Finally Pakistan is looking for building a response for expanding Indian maritime aviation threat after induction of Mig-29K on board INS Vikramaditya. Pakistan Naval Aviation and PAF both have no match for such potent aircraft in Indian arsenal. Need for a twin engine fighter for this particular role was there since long time. But Pakistan's problem are multi-folded. Not only IAF and IN have high tech fighter jets in numbers, India has a long coastal line along Arabian Sea which runs southwards deep into Indian Ocean. This coastline provide strategic depth to IN and IAF against any PN/PAF response in case of war. Keeping all these point in mind, SU-35 is perhaps the most suitable fighter PAF must procure. It has both the range and higher payload. PAF's current fighter inventory lack on range parameter particularly. According to IHS Janes, the negotiations are still in early phase hopefully this time PAF would not make a mess like they did in 1990's when Pakistan was interested in securing a deal of SU-27 Basic flanker model from Ukraine!

Increasing Accidents of Mi-17: Pakistan Army Needs a New Workhorse?

By Shahzad Masood Roomi

Mi-17 helicopters have been backbone of Pakistan Army Aviation (PAA) since many years now. These machines have played a remarkable role in ongoing counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations. During natural calamities like floods and earthquakes these are priority option of Pakistan Army for search and rescue operations. 

But due to this workload of every kind, the fleet of PAA's Mi-17s is rusting fast and the accidents are on the rise. On 6th August, PAA suffered second major accident involving Mi-17 killing all 12 on board including pilots and paramedical team of Pakistan Army near Mansehra, in KPK province.

Earlier, on 8th May 2015, 8 people were killed  in an Mi-17 crash in Naltar in District Gilgit, including the ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines, as well as the spouses of the Indonesian and Malaysian ambassadors to Pakistan.

Apart from these two incidents, scores of troops have lost their lives.

On 3rd July 2006, in a terrible accident of Mi-17 crash, 26 Pakistan Army soldiers were killed.

On 11th July 2012, A Pakistan Army Mi-17 crashed in Sarkdu in which left 5 dead and 3 injured. Major Shoaib was injured in the incident and lost his life next day due to heavy burns on his body. 

Maj Shoaib Shaheed - Sakrdu 2012

It is evident that Pakistani Mi-17 have become older and rusty due to excessive operations during the last 10 years and Pakistan Army needs the replacement or up-gradation of Mi-17s. This is not going to be an easy undertaking as right now Pakistan Army is using approx. 100 of these Russian machines. Availability of Russian spare parts has remained a big issue as well due to heavy political clout of New Delhi in Moscow till recent past.
 

Political Dimensions:
The latest crash incident of Mi-17 in Mansehra has triggered a political debate in the country on Pak-US/West strategic partnership in war on terror in which Pakistan has played a key role being the front-line ally since 9/11.

Western alliance failed to provide Pakistan Army with the required hardware and technologies in this war due to which strong suspicions about the future of this partnership are being raised in Islamabad. It has been noticed within the strategic circles in the country that the US never supplied Pakistan with key components like attack helicopters and drones in this war due to which Pakistan Army had to suffer fatalities at a very high rate.

According to media reports, the US never considered Pakistan's demand for sophisticated technology for its COIN operations. Sources has confirmed that Pakistan had been requesting the US for new or leased helicopters and transfer of drone technology since the onset of WoT, unfortunately, the US despite paying Pakistan from Collision Support Fund, never agreed to provide technologies required for effective operations against terrorists in FATA.

Pakistan was only supplied with second hand Cobra and few Mi-17s which were maintained in airworthy conditions by tireless efforts of Pakistani technicians. 

But Pakistan is not the only country where Mi-17 have met with accidents. The list of crash incident is quite long and include all major operator of this machine.


Latest Developments:

Pakistan Army has been looking for suitable attack and utility helicopter of Western origin. Pakistani delegations visited Turkey for number of times in this respect. Finally, Pakistan signed deal with Russian Federation directly. Fluid regional geopolitics played a key role in change of heart in Moscow; a key Indian ally. Ice began to break from President Musharraf's visit to Russia in 2005. After years of military diplomacy, despite attempts by India to prevent Russia from supplying Pakistan with latest military hardware, Pakistan Army leadership was able to convenience Moscow to sign a deal of supplying high tech Russian hardware directly to Islamabad. Pakistan signed a deal with Russia to procure Mi-35 Gunship helicopter, although Pakistan still seeking a replacement for Mi-17s. 

Mi-35 Gunship Helicopter

But now Pakistan is in position to acquire spare parts or new units to replace those destroyed in accidents. Chinese have made big stride in military hardware and China is producing Z-18 and Z-8 helicopters... But so far, Pakistan is only interested in Z-10 Gunships. 3 Z-10s are being evaluated by PAA.

In the long run, Pakistan will be best served to cooperate with China on a joint venture to produce a reliable utility helicopter in medium weight category. For short to medium term, Pakistan must enhance strategic cooperation with Russia to get latest version of Mi-17 and local maintenance facility. Pakistan Army is in desperate need of both utility and gunship helicopter and in given geopolitical scenario of the region and improvement in Pakistan's economy, Russian machines are feasible to acquire both politically and financially.