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Saturday, January 23, 2010

Offer of Outdated RQ-7 Shadow UAVs “Too little, too late”



By Mariana Baabar

Pakistan military sources say they are not impressed by the offer of the United States to supply RQ-7 Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), as they already have superior quality UAVs, which they have upgraded, and which are in use.The disappointment is understandable since unlike the drones that fly and take out targets inside Pakistan’s Fata region, the ones being offered to Pakistan are unarmed, and commonly used for intelligence gathering.Later, when DG ISPR Major General Athar Abbas was asked about the overall weapons being provided to Pakistan for counterinsurgency and other military supplies, he remarked, “Too little, too late”.It was US Defence Secretary Robert Gates who, in a meeting with the media at the residence of the US ambassador, said the US was enhancing Pakistan’s intelligence capabilities. He said the offer comes because Islamabad had requested for them. “We have a lot of information on the Afghan side that we share ... we also help Pakistan build its own capacity. We will be providing them with UAVs (Shadow) together with equipment and training,” he said.

To a question whether the US was attaching any conditions to these UAVs, he replied, “I do not know”. In the past, the US was wary of passing on the drone technology to Pakistan as Islamabad could use it in areas other than it had specifically been given for.One American journalist accompanying him asked about the possibility of stopping arms sale to India and Pakistan altogether. “We have to judge each country’s requirement on its own. We sell Pakistan F-16s and we sell India transport aircraft. We make a decision judiciously,” Gates replied.Gates appeared relaxed with the questions being thrown at him by the local and US media but it was the ‘D’ word that he refused to entertain. Though several questions relating to US drones were asked, he shrugged them off and would not even give an answer as to whom in the US this question could be put.When he said that there were no US bases inside Pakistan. he refused a reply when asked from where these US drones flew. Amongst the defence secretary’s aides in uniform that greeted the media before he arrived were those who offered their greetings in chaste Urdu and one of them also spoke excellent Pashto!..............................The News

6 comments:

WRONG. The Pakistani should not compare its inventory (or in this case, the free UAV offer) against that of the US. It should be compared to that of the adversary.

The RQ7 is meant to increase Pakistani's tactical situational awareness in area where foot patrol and 24/7 surveillance is difficult, not as a shinning knight that the PAF probably hope for. Moreover, [should they be reminded that] PAF is scheduled to received F16A/B upgrade and brand new C/D from the US more or less for the same counter-insurgency effort.

Pakistan wants "Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV" and "Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel UAV " only so that it can be used against India to guide terrorists in J&K.

@raj47
What is wrong if Pakistan wants to get systems for its defense against India? India is amassing the latest systems at the cost of poor Indians who are fast drowning below poverty line. These hysterical acquisitions of weapons of all kinds by Indians are a destabilizing factor in that region. Pakistan is at least trying to stabilize the situation by these minimal acquisitions from America and else where.

This comment has been removed by the author.

India has adopted a very smart strategy against Pakistan. They are putting a ton of money into military hardware and technology and goading Pakistan to compete. Pakistan does not have the resources to keep up and will go bankrupt in the process of maintaining parity. This is the only way to teach them the value of peace and the total absurdity of resorting to terrorism with their neighbors. Well done India. You can win this war without firing a single shot.

Well Mr Andrews . . . just ask yourself an easy question, with ofcourse a little hind sight that economy of Pakistan has always been exactly the same in past 60 years as it is now, the question is... "WHY DID INDIA NOT ATTACK PAKISTAN IN 1984 DURING ITS BRASS TAC EX, IN ESCALATION IN 2001 ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR PARLIMENT ATTACK "DRAMA" OR LATELY IN THE STANDOFF DUE TO THEIR MUMBAI ATTACK DRAMA ... THAT TOO INSPITE OF HAVING A MIGHTY MILITARY AND A "MORAL" HIGH GROUND AS WELL ... i don't have to tell you the answer, you already know it and so do the INDIANS

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