PAF being equipped with state-of-the-art technology: Aziz

RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Sunday that the government was improving the Pakistan Air Force by equipping it with new planes and weapons systems.

“We will maintain a minimum credible deterrence, but believe that peace can only be attained through strength,” Aziz said following a detailed briefing here at the PAF’s Command Operations Centre.

He said the government was allocating resources to equip the PAF with more high-tech equipment. “It is vital that both the latest training and weapon systems are employed to defend the country’s aerial frontiers,” he said.

Aziz said the induction of an air-borne radar system would improve the response time and ability of Pakistan’s armed forces, allowing it to detect threats in advance and take appropriate tactical action to neutralise them.

He said the PAF was inducting F-16 and JF-17 Thunder aircraft, the latter produced by a joint Pakistani-Chinese venture.

The prime minister was earlier briefed on Highmark Exercise 2005 and said it would improve the strategy, techniques and capabilities of the PAF. The exercises would also improve the PAF’s coordination with the army and navy. Air Vice Marshal Shahzad Aslam Chaudhry, deputy chief of air staff (operations), briefed the prime minister on the month-long exercise that will be conducted across the country from the Northern Areas to the Arabian Sea in three phases. Over 8,000 sorties will be flown in the exercise, which is more than the total sorties Pakistani pilots flew in the 1965 (2,500) and 1971 (3,500) wars combined.

The entire PAF force of fighter squadrons, transport fleet, ground crew, air defence and supporting units will participate in the exercise.

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat, Vice Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Tanveer Mehmood Ahmed and principal staff officers also attended the briefing. app

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