Pakistan Defence Review (April 2019): Modest Steps for the Short-Term & Significant Plans for the Long-Term Plus

Pakistan to Reportedly Buy Egyptian Mirage 5s

On 17 April 2019, the aviation journalist Alan Warnes reported that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has inked a deal with Egypt for a batch of the latter’s Dassault Mirage 5 fighters.

Alan Warnes did not reveal the number or sub-model of the fighter, but he noted that the PAF will use most of the aircraft to support its existing Mirage III/5 fleet.

Today, the Mirage III and 5 fighters serve an integral role in the PAF as primarily strike-oriented aircraft. In addition to having the ability to deploy the H-2 and H-4 stand-off range (SOW) glide-bombs, which have ranges of 60 km and 120 km, respectively, the Mirage is also the PAF’s main asset for deploying the Ra’ad-series of air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM).

Considering Pakistan’s current fiscal limitations and its small supplier pool, the PAF is also unlikely to procure an off-the-shelf fighter to complement (or supplant) the Mirage for strike missions. In effect, the Mirages will endure until the JF-17 (be it via the Block-III or a future variant) or Project Azm materialize into suitably capable strike platforms.

Former Pakistan CAS Reportedly Says Project Azm Design is ‘Complete.’

Speaking to the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI), the previous Chief of Air Staff (CAS) of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), retired Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Sohail Aman had reportedly stated that the PAF had completed the design of Project Azm, its next-generation fighter.