Germany Cleared EUR 174.4 M in Arms to Pakistan in 2018 Plus

In its 2018 Military Equipment Export Report, Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy disclosed that the German government approved €174.4 million ($194.35 million US) worth of armament licenses to Pakistan. This was over a 5X increase to the €32.4 million in arms approved to Pakistan in 2017.[1]

The 2018 report states that 35.1% of licenses comprised of “maritime patrol and torpedo aircraft, launch equipment for unmanned aircraft and parts for combat aircraft, aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aircraft, [and] ground support equipment.” This likely refers to the conversion of two Pakistan Navy (PN) ATR-72s into anti-submarine warfare (ASW)-capable maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) as well as the sale of an undisclosed number of LUNA NG unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to the PN.

The PN officially inducted both the ATR-72 MPA (officially designated as the RAS-72 Sea Eagle) and LUNA NG in January 2020. The Sea Eagle MPA conversion project was contracted to Rheinland Air Services (RAS) in 2016, while the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the LUNA NG is EMT Penzberg.

RAS delivered the first of two RAS-72s to the PN in early 2018, and the second aircraft in early 2019. RAS said that the PN still has an option to convert two additional aircraft.[2] Currently, the PN has a third, clean-configured ATR-72 which it uses for “cargo/para-drop” operations. Though it can be armed with a pair of lightweight ASW torpedoes, the RAS-72 also offers long-range air and surface surveillance and targeting, as well as electronic intelligence (ELINT) capabilities. It is not restricted to ASW operations, but serves as an early warning and, potentially, target classification and missile guidance asset for small ships.

Next, the report outlines that 18.4% of licenses comprised of “underwater detection equipment and parts for submarines, tugs, [and] underwater detection equipment.” These systems are likely part of the PN’s ongoing Agosta 90B mid-life update (MLU) program, which the Turkish contractor STM is managing at the Karachi Shipyards & Engineering Works (KSEW). The MLU draws new subsystems from multiple countries, including South Africa and the UK. Germany’s input likely centers on the transfer of the Atlas-Elektronik’s sonar suite. Quwa was told by an industry source that the PN is using the ISUS-100’s sonar in combination with Havelsan’s human-machine interface (HMI) and combat management system (CMS)

The first of these upgraded ships (PNS/M Hamza) is due for testing in 2020, with harbor acceptance tests (HAT) scheduled in Q1, and sea acceptance tests (SAT) thereafter.[3] Currently, two Agosta 90Bs are on contract for upgrades, but STM is planning to sign the deal for the third submarine by the middle of 2020.[4]

The final 27.3% of the licenses Germany approved comprised of radar and communications equipment: