Pakistan-Made Drones Successfully Fight Taliban, A VOR Report

Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) has suffered a terrible blow from the Pakistan-made drones this Tuesday, US military experts and foreign delegates impressed by the achievements of the country’s military technologies. TTP targets in Tirah and Mir Ali have been recently eliminated, a terrible blow to the umbrella organization that provokes unrest in the region. Taliban were astounded by the efficiency of the strikes, judging from the enemy’s radio intelligence after the attack, Islamabad sources state. The CIA chief Brennen has recently been to Rawalpindi, and naturally it made a lot of people wonder if Pakistan Army received intelligence help from the US. But a senior security official explained it was a courtesy and insisted that Pakistan had used its own ‘parindahs’ (birds) to deal with the Islamists.

 

Pakistani Made Shahpar Drone

 

This statements are tough to deny, since back in November 2013 Washington cared to speak on the matter in detail, going far as to grant Pakistan the most flattering approval one could imagine. “After years of preparation, the Strategically Unmanned Aerial Vehicles were formally announced by Gen Ashfaq Kayani, chief of Pakistan’s military. The drones, called ‘Burraq and Shahpar’, will not be armed and are to be used only for surveillance, military officials said.” “It is a landmark and a historic event, wherein a very effective force multiplier has been added to the inventory of the armed forces,” the Pakistani military said, noting that the accurate data by the Pakistani drones was the lion’s share of the success. Brig Muhammad Saad, a former senior officer in the Pakistani military confessed the Pakistani already had a certain type of drones before 2012, but they were not as advanced as the new ones are.

Skeptics insist that Pakistan still has a lot to learn if the country’s army wants to explore the full potential of the drone technology. Still, some of them reluctantly note that even the current type of drones can be equipped with unsophisticated weaponry that will help the Pakistani forces to outmaneuver their Islamist enemies. The foreign delegates from the allied countries were impressed by Pakistani achievements when last shown the results of the work, the official at the four-day International Defense Exhibition and Seminar said. “They were briefed about a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) that can be armed and has the capability to carry a weapon payload.” The official said Pakistan wanted to prove that he can protect himself from acts of aggression and terrorism, especially to his allies like Turkey and the Gulf, and is likely to continue the development of the drone technology in the future.

Drones Made in Pakistan: 'drone technology has existed in Pakistan for the last 20 years.'

Looking at the facility from outside, no one would guess what goes on within the 90,000-square-foot research facility of Integrated Dynamics (ID), a privately owned company in Karachi. There are no signboards indicating that ID is in the business of developing drone technology for military and civilian use. Surprisingly, there isn't even an army of security guards manning the complex as one would expect upon entering the gate. A lonesome gate keeper lets us in without a fuss.

A large variety of UAVs are manufactured by Integrated Dynamics at its facility in Karachi.-Photo Courtesy Integrated Dynamics

Even more startling is the ease with which R.S. Khan, IDs chief executive, states that 'drone technology has existed in Pakistan for the last 20 years.'

Khan, who graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a masters degree in aeronautics and astronautics, is quick to clarify that his company has 'never been asked to develop a drone which has an armed implication.' Instead, ID develops advanced Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV) systems capable of reconnaissance missions as well as target decoys for anti-aircraft missiles. His customers, he says, include the armed forces of the country as well as foreign buyers from the US, Australia, Spain, Italy and France.

Although he may not have been asked to develop an armed drone, Khan, who previously worked as a consultant for Pakistan's aerospace agency Suparco, points out 'If we consider the fact that drone development has been taking place in Pakistan for the last 20 years, I think the technology for flying long-range autonomous missions has existed for at least 10-12 years.'

Given Khans estimations about local drone development, it is unclear why Pakistan is asking the US to handover its armed drone technology, especially that of the infamous Predator. President Asif Ali Zardari recently told the British daily Independent that the US should give Pakistan the 'weapons, drones and missiles that will allow us to take care of' the militant threat in the tribal areas.

'If you ask anyone in Pakistan involved in the business of making unmanned UAVs whether something similar to the Predator drone aircraft can be made, the answer would be yes, explains Khan. I won't say we can make it overnight or by tomorrow. But I won't say either that it is a matter of decades. I would say that, if given the task, we can make such aircrafts in a few years. As a technologist, Khan is hesitant to speculate as to why the Pakistan government or armed forces are not investing in home-made technology. I think you need to ask the policy makers that.

Drone terminology

Model aircraft Typically a remote-controlled unmanned plane that flies within the visual range of an operator.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle A remote-controlled unmanned plane that can fly beyond the visual range of an operator. It is usually fitted with remote sensors and/or cameras.

Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle An advanced form of unmanned aerial vehicles, it may have a range of hundreds of kilometres and an endurance of months. Moreover, the mission can be pre-programmed in such systems and can be completed with or without the assistance of an operator. Some advanced versions also use artificial intelligence.

Drone In Pakistan, drones are usually associated with advanced unmanned autonomous vehicles that are fitted with lethal firepower (for example, the American Predator and Reaper drones). Target drones do not have combat capability and are used as decoys to simulate fighter aircrafts and test anti-aircraft batteries.

UAVs in Pakistan

Interestingly, there are several public sector companies involved in developing UAVs in Pakistan, including the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Air Weapons Complex (AWC) and National Development Complex (NDC).

The PACs Uqaab drone is in use by the Pakistan Army, and, according to unconfirmed reports, is being upgraded with Chinese help to carry a weapons payload. Other PAC UAVs include the Bazz and Ababeel. AWCs Bravo+ UAV is in use of the Pakistan Airforce (PAF). The PAF recently acquired an unarmed Italian drone called the Falco UAV, which is reportedly being used for surveillance and battleground assessments in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In 2008, the Pakistan Navy also reportedly completed trials of UAVs - the Austrian Schiebel Camcopter S-100 and Swedish Cybaero - from a Pakistani frigate in the Arabian Sea.

Private sector companies are also involved in the design and development of UAVs. Apart from ID in Karachi, East-West Infinity (EWI), Satuma and Global Industrial Defense Solutions (GIDS) are in the drone-making business.

The EWIs Heliquad UAV is considered a stealth design because of its small size and Whisper Watch signals intelligence package, which is capable of picking up radio and other communication signals. IDs Nishan Mk1 and TJ1000, Vision MK1 & MK2, Tornado, Border Eagle, Hornet, Hawk and Vector are also popular models employed by the armed forces for reconnaissance missions and target practice (each model varies in range and endurance). Satumas UAVs, with similar functionalities, are called Flamingo, Jasoos and Mukhbar. For its part, the GIDS develops the Huma-1 UAV and its own version of the Uqaab.

Even though almost all UAVs in the country have been built for military applications - reconnaissance, simulations, decoy systems, remote sensing - none of them are reported to be capable of firing arms. Moreover, none of the above-mentioned facilities are involved in large-scale, mass production of UAVs.

Policy on drones

It is still not clear what Pakistan's policy regarding unmanned drones is. On the one hand, Pakistan has 'condemn[ed] in the strongest terms' any US drone attack. On the other hand, reports have emerged that the US has the tacit approval of the current government.

Previously, former president Pervez Musharraf had reportedly authorized Washington to launch Predator drones from secret bases near Islamabad and Jacobabad. Google Earth images of an airbase in Balochistan hosting Predators had also emerged at a time when Pakistan was adamantly claiming that all drones were flying in from Afghanistan. More recently, the Pakistan Army 'practiced' shooting down drones, but even then, foreign aircrafts continued to rain in their missiles.


IDs Khan explains that shooting down drones to prevent attacks is a viable option. 'From a technical standpoint, all it takes is a simple air-to-air or surface-to-air missile to bring the drone down. Almost all of these aircrafts have a very low radar signature. But they're not undetectable. They can be detected, he says. The question really is whether one wants to bring one down or not.

Drones vs. casualties

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'The question really is whether one wants to bring one down or not.'

According to news reports, US drone attacks have killed around 701 people in Pakistan since 2006, including 14 alleged Al Qaeda leaders. Although armed UAVs or drones provide safety to their operators since they cannot be harmed if the aircraft are shot down during combat operations, they come at the cost of scores of civilian casualties, who bear the brunt of aerial raids. Therefore, it is debatable whether the armed drones, even if built and controlled by Pakistan, would actually make a difference in terms of changing the sentiment of the people against their devastating impact.

The way forward

Apart from their use in a military context, there is a need to deploy UAVs for the benefit of Pakistani communities. UAVs abroad are being used for a variety of civilian services, including search and rescue operations, environmental analysis, assisting local law enforcers, scientific research and even transport. Situational awareness about a potentially hazardous or calamity-hit areas, for example, in the aftermath of an earthquake, could also be gained through the use of such systems.

The responsibility of implementing this vision rests not only with the companies that develop UAVs, but also with government bodies that should utilise drones to improve their image and efficiency. After all, drones are not exclusively killing machines.

Made in Pakistan Drones (Part-II)

The Border Eagle is a surveillance UAV that comes equipped with both a still and video camera along with a chemical monitoring module

Explorer Drone

The Shadow is also a surveillance UAV that has a speed of over 200 kilometres per hour and can operate within a 200-kilometre range

The Rover is a civilian UAV typically used for electronic news gathering and rapid information relay

Uqaab UAV

SATUMA Mini UAV - Stingray

SATUMA Short Range UAV - Mukhbar

Uqaab UAV

GIDS Shahpar

Thunder UAV

A large variety of UAVs are manufactured by Integrated Dynamics at its facility in Karachi

Made in Pakistan Drones (Part-I)

These days we hear a lot that Pakistan needs Drone Technology, but i am wondering if we really lack in Drone technology in presence of Integrated Dynamics, SATUMA and East and West.

Integrated Dynamic is a Karachi based privately held company that specializes in UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). It has several models developed already that are working in the field.

Similarly, The SATUMA lies 25 km out of Islamabad on the bank of river Soan with an engineering floor area of 5,000 Sq. ft. and a small airstrip for testing and evaluating scaled air frames, testing engines and other outdoor activities.

East-West provides alot of the sophisticated electronic devices that go into these UAVs to track terrorists. Today there is a growing ecosystem for robotics and UAVs, with work also being done on UUVs (underwater unmanned vehicles) and ground recon robots.

By the way, these Pakistani are doing pretty good job, as they were able to sell their UAVs to the US border patrol.

Here are few pictures of Pakistani Made Drones:

The Tornado is a target and decoy UAV with a range of over 200 kilometres. It can reach speeds of up to 300 knots and can emit false radar signals to confuse enemy air defences

The space at Integrated Dynamics, where UAV prototypes are designed and developed

 

The Nishan MK-II is seen here against the backdrop of Shadow and Explorer UAVs. The Nishan has a wingspan of over 9 feet and is considered a high-speed aerial target or decoy. Its range is limited to 35 kilometres