Non-Subscriber Extract
Pakistan Air Force prepares to induct UAVs into service
By Farhan Bokhari
25 November 2008
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will formally induct unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into service for the first time in 2009, the chief of the PAF has told Jane's.
This comes five years after the PAF launched a programme to acquire UAVs for intelligence-gathering and reconnaissance operations.
In addition to the Bravo+ UAV, which, according to PAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, has been built indigenously, the air force will also receive the Falco UAV produced by Selex Galileo of Italy. The two systems will be used mainly for aerial reconnaissance and information gathering, although the PAF will later also induct UAVs equipped with weapon systems to carry out offensive operations.
"This capability we are developing fairly rapidly; we are becoming mature. It is part of our operations now and I look forward to seeing this in real operations by [the] beginning [of] 2009," said ACM Ahmed.
Image: The Pakistan Air Force will induct UAVs into service in 2009. It will use the Falco (pictured) and the Bravo+. (Galileo Avionica)