This week’s Quwa Premium article is a recap of some defence news items from around the world. Besides a basic overview of the news, this article also offers short-form analysis of each issue.
Pakistan Showcases its New Military Equipment
On 23 March 2022, Pakistan showcased its newly inducted hardware from China as part of its national day parade. The most notable of these new additions included the J-10CE ‘Dragon’ fighter aircraft, VT4 main battle tank (MBT), HQ-9/P long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, SH-15 self-propelled howitzer (SPH), and YLC-18A multi-mission radar. This is on top of previously acquired systems, such as the JF-17.
Overall, while the event reaffirmed Pakistan’s traditional reliance on Chinese equipment for its workhorse or mainstay equipment, it also established a new shift. Pakistan is now looking to China for new, cutting-edge systems too. The induction of the J-10CE clearly spoke to this shift when Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan, drew a parallel between this new jet and the induction of the F-16 in 1983.
While a shortage of accessible Western options played a part, China’s far-reaching technology advances, especially in critical areas like gas turbines and electronics, is also driving Pakistan’s shift. China is perhaps the only other power (aside from the United States) that can design and product a modern fighter aircraft using only its own research and development (R&D) and industry base. Moreover, China’s industry as well as R&D bases are strong enough to drive the creation of next-generation fighter aircraft (NGFA).
Thus, China’s ability to produce weapon systems is advanced, if not peer-level with the United States and Europe in some key areas, such as drones. As a result, Pakistan has found a direct replacement to the U.S. in China when it comes to sourcing both workhorse and marque equipment. Regarding the latter, Pakistan got its newest multi-role fighter and long-range SAMs from China.
This new dynamic basically secures Pakistan’s ability to source modern weapons. The only constraint now is Pakistan’s ability to finance this hardware. Currently, it seems that China is providing accessible vehicles to facilitate procurement (e.g., installment-based payment). Moreover, the pricing is generally lower than that of analogous Western equipment. Thus, Pakistan might be in a position to undertake a significant or wide-reaching recapitalization of its inventory across air, land, and sea-based platforms.
That said, while China will supply most of Pakistan’s equipment, the Pakistani military is still working with in-house programs and other countries. The most notable of the latter is Turkey, which carried out a major sub-system upgrade of Pakistan’s French-origin Agosta 90B submarines. The first upgraded submarine, PNS Hamza, test-fired a torpedo as part of the Pakistan Navy’s recent Sea Spark exercise.
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