The Growth of Pakistan’s Air Defence Environment

One of the marque aspects of Pakistan’s defence modernization efforts is its widespread drive to improve its ground-based and sea-based air defence environments. Since Pakistan started this process in the early 2010s, it has improved its situational awareness, targeting, and surface-to-air missile (SAM) capabilities.

The bulk of Pakistan’s SAM acquisitions are from China. However, when it comes to radars and specialized naval SAMs, Pakistan is sourcing from a more diverse supplier base.

Land

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had set the basis for the country’s integrated air defence ground environment system (ADGES) in 1975 by forming Pakistan Air Defence Command. In 1976, the PAF initiated “Project Crystal,” under which it added six AN/TPS-43 radars and 45 Mobile Pulse Doppler Radar (MPDR) systems.

The AN/TPS-43 had provided the long-range, high-altitude coverage, while the MPDRs formed the bulk of the short-range, low-altitude coverages. Under this set up, the PAF also leveraged a real-time data-link to connect its sensor feeds to monitors across the PAF’s three regional commands.

Overall, Project Crystal formed the foundation of the PAF’s C4ISR set-up, which would develop further in the following several decades. In the early 2000s, the PAF added its first cutting-edge system in the form of six Lockheed Martin AN/TPS-77s, a long-range, high-altitude system using active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar technology. The PAF also acquired the RAC-3D, a short-range fire control radar system alongside its Spada-2000 Plus short-to-medium-range SAMs. In fact, up to this point, it was the PAF which had managed the majority of SAMs beyond the short-range air defence (SHORAD) layer.

However, this dynamic changed significantly through the 2010s. While the PAF continued investing in its radars and other situational awareness assets, it was the Army that acquired the bulk of Pakistan’s SAMs.

In the 2010s, the Pakistan Army acquired nine Chinese LY-80 medium-range (40+ km) SAM systems plus an unspecified number of FM-90 SHORAD SAMs (15 km) and HQ-9/P long-range (125 km) SAMs. The Army also organized its SAMs into a “Comprehensive Layered Integrated Air Defence” (CLIAD) system.

It is unclear how dynamic feeds off the PAF. On the surface, it seems that the PAF is primarily focusing on surveillance and situational awareness. In fact, under “Project Vision,” the PAF set up a ‘single recognized air picture (RAP)’ by drawing on each of the tri-services’ radars, including the Army’s. Thus, in theory, the Army should be using this RAP to support its CLIAD and, as importantly, its SAMs.

However, the PAF had hinted that it will further develop its SAM capabilities. Currently, most of the PAF’s SAMs comprise of short and medium-range systems, such as the MBDA Spada-2000-Plus. But in a newer promotional video, the PAF hinted that it will acquire the Chinese HQ-9.

If the PAF was to grow its SAM capabilities, it could build upon two notable gaps in the Army’s coverages.

First, the Army’s medium-range LY-80 SAMs rely on semi-active radar-homing (SARH); thus, they require a radar to ‘paint’ a target from start to being in close enough proximity. However, if the radars are affected by jamming or anti-radiation missiles (ARM), the Army could suffer a deprecation in its capabilities.

Instead, the PAF could induct a more modern medium-range SAM with active radar-homing (ARH). While ARH-based SAMs still rely on a surface-based radar for target location information, these SAMs possess a greater degree of flexibility thanks to their own seekers. In fact, ARH-based SAMs could open the door for the PAF to try using more network-enabled approaches to deploying SAMs. For example, it can have two or more separate radars of different types and frequency bands support its SAMs. This redundancy could help maintain Pakistan’s SAM threat should it lose some radars to jamming or ARMs.

Second, the Army confirmed that its HQ-9/P has a range of 125 km. Thus, the PAF could acquire a longer-ranged variant of the HQ-9, such as the HQ-9BE, for greater coverage. The HQ-9BE has a range of 250 km.

While it is unclear how the PAF will manage SAMs, it has certainly invested greatly in its radar technology and, in turn, its situational awareness capabilities. Today, the PAF’s ADGES is significantly superior to what it was through the 2000s and 2010s. Starting with the AN/TPS-77 for long-range, high-altitude coverages, the PAF seems to have steered the bulk of its land-based radars towards AESA-based systems.

For low-altitude and gap-filler coverage, the PAF inducted the Lockheed Martin TPS-77 Multi-Role Radar (MRR) and the China Electronics Technology Group Co (CETC) YLC-18A radar. The YLC-18A reportedly has a range of over 250 km and maximum altitude of 12,000 m. The TPS-77 MRR offers a range of 463 km and maximum altitude coverage of 30,500 m. The end-user can deploy both radars in a mobile configuration.

Both the TPS-77 MRR and YLC-18A are long-range systems. However, the PAF is using them to augment the AN/TPS-77 by covering low-altitude gaps (caused by the curvature of the Earth). This could be a net-new capability as, prior to these radars, the PAF relied on the short-range MPDRs for gap-filling.

However, the PAF has not totally done away with the MPDR concept. Rather, in addition to acquiring the TPS-77 MRR and YLC-18A, the PAF has even modernized its short-range, low-altitude coverage. It appears that the PAF supplanted the MPDRs with a new Hensoldt AESA radar.

In 2019, the PAF imported 60 ‘solid transmitter kits for MPDR upgrade’ from Hensoldt. Pakistan’s legacy MPDRs were not solid-stated based systems. Thus, the kits evidently spoke to a new system. It is unclear if this new MPDR is a standard off-the-shelf design, like the Hensoldt TRML-3D/32, or a bespoke product.

The latter is a real possibility as the PAF has reportedly been working on in-house radar transceiver module (TRM) design work for several years. Pakistan does not have a semiconductor industry to manufacture its own TRMs. Thus, Pakistan is likely sourcing the TRMs from overseas, but through its own specifications.

In any case, it is safe to conclude that the bulk of the PAF’s land-based radar systems use AESA technology. In other words, its air surveillance coverages have better defensibility against electronic countermeasures (ECM) jamming. This network may also be more difficult to parse thanks to the fact that each radar can, theoretically at least, leverage “chirping” (i.e., where each of the hundreds of TRMs within each radar can transmit a unique signal). Thus, it may be more difficult to deprecate this ADGES. Finally, these new radars also provide more range and better bandwidth in the way of target identification and tracking.

Overall, since the PAF is ostensibly investing in in-house radar design work, it could start inducting a more diverse range of systems. It could look to higher-powered applications (analogous to the Green Pine) for land-based early warning and/or shorter-ranged, mobile radars.

Sea

Like the Pakistan Army, the Pakistan Navy has transformed a comparatively anemic set-up into a robust, multi-layered system comprising of both new Chinese and Western SAMs.

The starting point of the PN’s air defence modernization was the Tughril-class (Type 054A/P) frigate, which came equipped with the medium-range LY-80 SAM system.

While a substantial improvement to the LY-60s that had equipped the legacy Type-21 frigates, the LY-80 is a SARH-based system. Besides having the same deprecation risk as the Army’s system, the simultaneous engagement capability is limited to the illuminating radars onboard the ship. Thus, the Tughril-class frigate is vulnerable to saturation attacks and multiple airborne threats.

To offset this gap, the PN sought the MBDA Albatross-NG or Common Anti-Air Modular Missile Extended Range (CAMM-ER) from Europe. The CAMM-ER offers a range of 45 km, but since it uses an ARH, it does not require separate target illumination radars. The PN is planning to configure the CAMM-ER to its Babur-class corvettes and Jinnah-class frigates, which it is building with Turkey.

In all likelihood, the PN will deploy a mix of Tughril-class, Babur-class, and Jinnah-class ships in each of its surface task forces. Thus, the CAMM-ER-equipped ships would support the Tughril-class and ensure that the enemy cannot fully leverage the latter’s limitations. If anything, the presence of the CAMM-ER-armed ships could free the Tughril-class to use its LY-80s in a more focused manner. So, instead of engaging every aerial threat, the Tughril-class could focus on specific target types, such as enemy anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and long-range maritime patrol aircraft (LRMPA), like the P-8.

It will be interesting to see how the PN approaches its long-term air defence development. If it is mirroring the Army and Air Force’s work on land, then logically, the PN would seek its own long-range SAM. This is something the PN could pursue in conjunction with its original ship design efforts and the PAF’s work on in-house radar technologies. Interestingly, even in terms of SAMs, the PN could see a new potential source emerge in Turkey for both medium-range and long-range applications (e.g., SIPER).