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Posted by admin in Our Heroes, Pakistan Air Force on March 18th, 2013
ISLAMABAD – Air Commodore (R) Muhammad Mahmood Alam, Sitara-i-Jur’at (with Bar), a veteran of 1965 and 1971 wars and renowned ace pilot of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) breathed his last at PNS Shifa Hospital after prolonged illness in Karachi today. He was 78.
PAF Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt expressed grief over the sad demise of the iconic legend and national hero.
“Any chronicles of the World Aviation Hall of Fame or accomplishments of Pakistan Air Force would be incomplete without the mention of Air Commodore (R) MM Alam,” Butt said.
A daring fighter pilot, war hero and a scholar par excellence, MM Alam was a role model not only for the PAF airmen but also for Muslims across the world.
MM Alam was born on July, 6 1935 in a well educated family of Calcutta, British India. After completing his secondary education from Government High School Dhaka in 1951, MM Alam joined PAF in 1952 and was granted commission on October 2, 1953.
During his career, Alam underwent many courses including Fighter Conversion Course, F-86F Familiarisation Course, Fighter Leader Course, PAF Staff College Course, Orientation Training Course-USA and Royal College of Defence Studies Course – UK.
His major appointments included air gunnery and tactical instructor at fighter leader school, commanding officer of No 11, No 5 and No 26 squadrons, operation research director, assistant chief of the air staff (flight safety) and assistant chief of the air staff (plans) at Air Headquarters. He also served in Syria on deputation.
During the Indo-Pak war of 1965, Leader of No 11 Squadron MM Alam shot down 2 and damaged 3 Indian Air Force aircrafts on September 6, 1965.
On September 7, 1965, MM Alam rewrote the history of air warfare by setting new records while defending Pakistani Airspace against the aggressors. He shot down five Hawker Hunter fighters of the Indian Air Force in less than sixty seconds, the first four within a span of 30 seconds only, in an air-to-air combat. This act of outstanding bravery and heroism, earned him the Sitara-i-Jur’at (with Bar). Government of Pakistan also paid him a befitting tribute by naming one of the most prominent roads in Lahore after him.
His funeral prayers would be offered at PAF Base Masroor, Karachi at 5 pm today. He would be buried with full military honours at PAF graveyard in Masroor Air Base.
Posted by admin in Defense, Pakistan Air Force on March 16th, 2013
FT-2000
In a report to Congress on May 28, 2004, the U.S. Department of Defense highlighted the major improvements that China has made to its air and missile defense systems over the past few years, including “[the] development of an antiradiation SAM [surface-to-air missile], most likely intended to target AWACS [Airborne Warning and Control System] aircraft and standoff jamming platforms.”1
The report was referring specifically to the FT-2000, a Chinese anti-radiation surface-to-air missile system designed to counter electronic jamming aircraft, AWACS aircraft, and other air radiation wave targets. Developed and manufactured by the China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CPMIEC) during the late 1990s, the FT-2000 is also believed to be capable of destroying tactical ballistic missiles, similar to the U.S. Patriot and the Russian S-300P systems on which it is based.2 At present, two versions exist, the mobile FT-2000 and the fixed-based FT-2000A.3
The FT-2000 is the direct result of a concerted effort by China to eliminate an inherent vulnerability in medium- and long-range surface-to-air missiles: jamming. For decades, air and missile defense systems like the Patriot and the S-300P have been susceptible to advanced techniques designed to confuse or immobilize their interceptor missiles and keep them from reaching their targets. One of the most common jamming devices is S- and C-band airborne noise. If used properly, this and other deception mechanisms lead to what is known as the “suppression of enemy air defenses” and allows attacking aircraft and missiles to proceed to their targets without challenge.4
The FT-2000 was designed to neutralize and counter these airborne jamming devices. It contains a passive radar target seeker programmed to detect the specific electromagnetic signals emanating from its target. Essentially, the FT-2000 uses its target’s own jamming frequencies against it. In addition, the FT-2000 has a passive homing system that does not transmit electromagnetic waves, thus minimizing the chances that its enemies will detect it in time.5 The system is equipped with modified HQ-9 interceptor missiles, each of which is 6.8 meters long, 0.47 meters in diameter, and has a launch weight of 1,300 kilograms. The HQ-9 missiles give the FT-2000 a range of 12 to 100 kilometers and an operating altitude of 3 to 20 kilometers. The mobile system is transported and launched on an 8 X 8 cross-country launcher with four canisters that resemble those used by the S-300P.6
In addition to the mobile FT-2000, China has developed a fixed-based variant, the FT-2000A. According to a recent Chinese sales brochure, the FT-2000A uses a highly-modified HQ-2 missile that has been equipped with passive radio frequency homing seekers. Each HQ-2 is armed with a 60-kilogram fragmentation warhead and has a range of 60 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 18 kilometers. Reports indicate that each FT-2000A battery consists of 12 missile launchers, each containing one missile, and a central control station. The central control station has one master passive sensor and three auxiliary passive sensors. The four sensors are capable of triangulating on electromagnetic signals in the 2- and 6-GHz frequency range, which covers most AWACS aircraft and other air radiation wave targets, thus earning it the nickname “AWACS killer.”7
In addition to its role as an anti-radiation missile system, the FT-2000 also has advanced capability against tactical ballistic missiles, although this point is seldom mentioned. As Richard D. Fisher, Jr. has pointed out, Chinese officials at the 1998 Zhuhai Air Show—shortly after plans for the FT-2000 had been unveiled—stated that the FT-2000 was being developed into an active-guided missile that eventually would have the ability to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.8 Since the FT-2000 is based on comprehensive systems such as the U.S. Patriot and the S-300P, it is no surprise that it too has anti-missile capabilities.
In October 2003, it was reported that China had closed a deal with its neighbor, Pakistan, to supply the latter with an unspecified number of FT-2000 missiles to counter India’s early warning capabilities. The China-Pakistan deal followed India’s own arrangement with Israel and Russia to install three Israeli Phalcon AWACS on Ilyushin Il-76 freighter aircraft, thus giving it an airborne early warning system.9 According to various news sources, shortly after India announced its acquisition of the Phalcon radars, Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat, the head of Pakistan’s air force, visited China and conveyed Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s wish to purchase an unspecified number of FT-2000s.10
Counter PHALCON
The recent China-Pakistan arrangement may just be an attempt to maintain the delicate balance of power between India and Pakistan, both of which possess nuclear weapons. Yet according to an article published in Malaysia in January 2003, the People’s Liberation Army is eager to export the FT-2000 around the globe.11 It is entirely possible that “AWACS killer” air and missile defense systems like the FT-2000 will soon proliferate throughout Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, a development that would introduce a multitude of strategic problems for the U.S. and its allies.
Pakistan is a nation which seriously takes its responsibility to the Global Community, as a Nuclear Power. Its People and Armed Forces are committed to prevent the spread of Nuclear & Missile Technology.
These destructive technologies are not toys to be passed around. They are highly sensitive technologies and extremely dangerous weapons, which Pakistan protects with a dedicated force of two Army Divisions.
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 20 —An international voluntary partnership body committed to preventing the proliferation of missile has concluded two-day talks in Islamabad and appreciated the steps by Pakistan for bringing its export control at par with the best international standards, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The delegation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Pakistani officials exchanged views on a broad range of issues and agreed to continue their interaction in the future.
Pakistan had conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and routinely tests nuclear-capable missiles that can hit any city in India.
“These interactions are part of Pakistan’s concerted effort to engage with the international export control regimes, in pursuance of the direction received from the National Command Authority (NCA) chaired by the prime minister,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.
It said Pakistan’s export control regime is compatible with the guidelines of MTCR and Nuclear Suppliers Group.
“Pakistan hopes to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with all of these regimes, and would welcome cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, biology and chemistry as well as space science and technology, with any member of these groups, while maintaining a nuclear deterrent in the interest of regional peace and security,” the statement said.
The statement said Pakistan is being viewed by the international community as a responsible nuclear weapon state that is firmly committed to the non-proliferation of WMDs and their delivery systems on a non-discriminatory basis.
“Pakistan welcomes the fact that all the international export control regimes have begun a process of engagement with it to advance the shared objectives of global non-proliferation,” it said.
An international voluntary partnership body committed to preventing the proliferation of missile has concluded two-day talks in Islamabad and appreciated the steps by Pakistan for bringing its export control at par with the best international standards, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The delegation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Pakistani officials exchanged views on a broad range of issues and agreed to continue their interaction in the future.
Pakistan had conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and routinely tests nuclear-capable missiles that can hit any city in India.
“These interactions are part of Pakistan’s concerted effort to engage with the international export control regimes, in pursuance of the direction received from the National Command Authority (NCA) chaired by the prime minister,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.
An international voluntary partnership body committed to preventing the proliferation of missile has concluded two-day talks in Islamabad and appreciated the steps by Pakistan for bringing its export control at par with the best international standards, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The delegation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Pakistani officials exchanged views on a broad range of issues and agreed to continue their interaction in the future.
Pakistan had conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and routinely tests nuclear-capable missiles that can hit any city in India.
“These interactions are part of Pakistan’s concerted effort to engage with the international export control regimes, in pursuance of the direction received from the National Command Authority (NCA) chaired by the prime minister,” a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Posted by ansarmukhtar in Defense, ISI, Pakistan Fights Terrorism, Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on March 8th, 2013
American journalist Richard Miniter has claimed in his latest book that an officer of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) helped the CIA track down Osama Bin Laden and that army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani may have been informed of the Abbottabad raid five months in advance. 
OBL’s compound was raided by US Navy SEALs. PHOTO: FILE
The book titled ‘Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him’, alleges that the ISI officer had walked into the CIA’s Islamabad station in August 2010 and provided vital help in tracing Bin Laden.
“In a never-before-reported account, Pakistan was more involved in the Bin Laden operation than Obama’s team admitted. When the CIA revealed that an ISI colonel had contacted the CIA in Islamabad and offered information about Bin Laden, a debate followed,” said the book.
“Was this a secret sign that the head of the ISI himself was pointing out Bin Laden’s hiding place or was the colonel actually the patriot who hated extremism that he claimed to be? Whatever the motivation, the CIA found Bin Laden’s hiding place within a month of the colonel’s visit,” the book claims.
According to the book, as the CIA found the Abbottabad compound where Bin Laden lived along with his family and started researching on the property, they found out that the land was “carved out” from the Pakistan Military Academy compound.
“Pakistan Army’s chief of staff may have been briefed in December 2010, five months before the nighttime raid on Bin Laden’s concrete castle,” the Press Trust of India quoted the book as saying. “No concrete facts about the operation were passed on, but an informal approval was sought.”
“Far from taking a risk, there are indications that a cover story had been developed with the Pakistani military and that Obama had their tacit consent for the mission,” claims Miniter, a former reporter with The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
Officials from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) were not immediately available for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 23rd, 2012.
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The Turkish and Pakistani military forces have initiated two joint military exercises, a naval operations exercise and an air force cooperation drill, beginning on Monday Today`s Zaman reported.
 According to a statement released by the General Staff, the combined naval military exercise code-named “Aman-2013,” being held at the invitation of the Pakistani naval forces, will be conducted from March 4 to 8 in the Indian Ocean. The aim of the exercise is “to show a common determination against terrorist and criminal events in a naval operating area” and “to contribute to international peace and stability,” as it was described in the official statement.
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Five Turkish F-16 fighter jets will join the air force exercise. A previous Indus Viper operation took place at the Mushaf Air Base in 2008.
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