Homemade drones in the works

[Naveed Yaseen]

* LA Times says Pakistan Aeronautical Complex gearing up to produce its own UAVs

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: With the US refusing its repeated requests for the transfer of drone technology for use in the war on terror, Pakistan is looking to utilise Italian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) for the purpose.

The Los Angeles Times said Pakistan had not stopped trying to acquire drones from the US, but it had decided to begin making its own.

It said the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex was teaming up with the Italian company Selex Galileo to produce its UAVs, the unarmed Falco reconnaissance drones, locally.

The Italian versions do not carry missiles like the US variety, but send images of targets back to Pakistani command posts. The LA Times said the Italian drones were crucial “baby steps for a country desperate to develop its own fleet to better combat a home-grown militancy”.

“In a small, glass-walled laboratory at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, it [Pakistan] is gearing up to produce its own modern tactical drones similar to the Falcos it used over the Swat Valley,” it said.

Pakistani technicians at Kamra are still in training and several months away from beginning to manufacture them.

The Pakistani military relied heavily on fighter jet airstrikes to eliminate the Taliban infrastructure in Swat, and aerial images taken by Falco drones helped them pinpoint those targets.

"Our recent area of interest has been the war on terror, and we've deployed [Falco drones] very successfully," said Air Marshal Farhat Hussain Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. "It's been extremely useful in the current situation."

US drones equipped with Hellfire missiles have been one of the most effective weapons against Al Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban in the Tribal Areas, killing at least nine top leaders.

The request for drones were refused by the US, which cited concerns that “Pakistan's intelligence services could pass on sensitive data about the drones and their operation to militant leaders”.

Falco drones, Khan said, were used during the Swat offensive to locate "all kinds of targets ranging from hide-outs, bunkers, ammo dumps, pickets and other [Taliban] infrastructure".

Defense analyst Talat Masood, a retired Pakistani general, said producing surveillance drones would be a good first step toward Pakistan's eventual goal of having UAVs capable of carrying missiles.

"My own assessment is that they have helped in improving intelligence and operations capability of the Pakistani army in Swat," Masood said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_40