By Bilal Khan
Previous articles on Quwa discussed why the JF-17 is a significant advancement for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Not only is the JF-17 an effective multi-role platform that is poised to form the backbone of the PAF fighter fleet, but…
By Bilal Khan
In April 2015 Pakistan submitted a request for the sale of 15 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters alongside 1,000 AGM-114R Hellfire-II multipurpose air-to-surface missiles for $952mn U.S. The U.S Department of Defense has just awarded Bell to build the first two…
By Bilal Khan
DefenseNews published an interesting article the other day about a Chinese firm, NAV Technology, putting out a marketing document showing a fighter radar that is identical to the Israeli Elta ELM-2052 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. I am not…
By Bilal Khan
In the aftermath of the recently concluded order of 4 Mi-35 attack/transport helicopters, there are a few media reports floating about purporting that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is "eyeing" the Yak-130 advanced jet trainer.
The whole topic of 'lead-in-fighter-trainers' (or LIFT)…
By Bilal Khan
In April the U.S Defense Security Cooperation Agency sent Congress a request to approve a near $1bn US sale involving AH-1Z 'Viper' attack helicopters and 1000 AGM-114R Hellfire II missiles to the Pakistan Army. Around this time the Pakistan Army…
By Bilal Khan
In my previous piece I took a high level look at the JF-17 program, and in broad strokes I identified the improvements it brought (and will continue) to bring to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). With this article, I am…
By Bilal Khan
Muhammad Ali Ehsan, a retired Pakistan Army lieutenant-colonel posted a thoughtful piece on the Express Tribune the other day that I found quite interesting. Essentially a response to the Sino-Pak submarine deal (reportedly valued at $4 to $5 billion US),…
Note: This was Quwa's very first article, published over four years ago in 2015.
Whether it be wars with its rival India or periods of not-so-great relations with the U.S, the PAF has often suffered as a result of military embargoes. Other than…