The PAF and the Saab 2000
April 18, 2008 | Ali Abbas Rizvi

In the early Eighties, Soviet air intrusion into Pakistan airspace dramatically increased. In 1986, hostile helicopter-gunships entered Pakistan and flew over the town of Parachinar for half an hour, strafing targets at will. Pakistan turned to the United States and sought help, including E-3A Sentry AWACS, to thwart the Soviet designs. However, the Americans did not oblige the Pakistanis, though they offered a much downgraded E-2C Hawkeyes, a bid that was rejected. Nevertheless, the US airlifted Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (AAMs) from NATO's reserved stocks and provided it to the PAF. The first PAF pilot who, despite strict rules of engagement, downed enemy aircraft in Pakistani territory was Squadron Leader Qadri, who rose to the rank of air commodore and was later tragically killed in an air crash as base commander of Minhas (Kamra).

Since then, advanced early warning and control (AEW&C) systems have been in the radar sights of the Pakistan Air Force.

There are three types of early-warning systems in the market. The first is called airborne early warning (AEW), which is rather outdated. The second is the airborne early warning and control system (AEW&C), which receives orders from the ground or from AWACS, the third and most advanced system.

The need for airborne early-warning increased manifold during the Nineties when the Americans stopped the supply of F-16Cs to the PAF under the Pressler Amendment. The PAF got into trouble while its traditional adversary, the Indian Air Force, bought one advanced weapon system after another. All the PAF could do was to watch and upgrade its Mirage IIIs and Vs, while it also bought F-7s and second-hand Mirage IIIs.

Now, luckily for the service, things are improving. It is in the process of getting more F-16s, has co-manufactured the JF-17 and, on the top of it, will soon receive its first AEW&C, the Saab 2000 turboprop ERIEYE aircraft.

In June 2006, the PAF had signed a deal for the supply of six Saab 2000s.

However, because of shortage of funds, the number of aircraft was revised to five. The first of the five such aircraft was rolled out on April 4, 2007, in Sweden and was being equipped with a full suite of mission systems, including radars and avionics. It will join the first PAF AEW&C squadron next year.

The ERIEYE, developed by the Ericsson Microwave Systems, comprises fixed, dual-sided and electronically scanned phased-array pulse-Doppler radar mounted on top of the fuselage. The ERIEYE uses a shorter-range but much more compact and advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) system. On the other hand, the Pakistan Navy has opted for the E-2C Hawkeye radar mounted on P3C Orion aircraft, which are based on the Passive Electronically Scanned Array (PESA) system.

In August 2006, it had been reported that a prototype Y-8 Chinese AWACS, whose project was started after Beijing failed to get the Israeli Phalcon system in 2000, was in Pakistan, giving operational demos at the Chaklala airbase. The development was not surprising as Pakistan was also working on a project to jointly develop Sino-Pakistani AWACS.

The Saab AEW&C will provide the PAF with certain major advantages.

First, the Saabs, which have a ceiling of 31,000 feet, will be able to detect all aircraft taking off and landing at Indian airbases near the border. Apparently, they can also identify the kind of aircraft that have taken off and whether they are equipped with missiles and drop tanks, their altitudes and the direction in which they are headed. The radar capabilities and range of the Saabs are, of course, confidential, though it is expected that they may have a range of 350 kilometers and beyond. This will allow them to provide early warning in case of pre-emptive attacks from across the border. Second, these aircraft will coordinate with PAF aircraft flying at the same time from several air bases. The AEW&C system will track them and coordinate their movement.

Third, the Saab will allow Pakistani fighter aircraft to fly without operating their own radars and, thereby, making it difficult for unfriendly forces to track them. In case of hostilities, the Saabs would serve as force multipliers.

Fourth, the Saab AEW&C will coordinate with the army in missions for Cobra gunships that regularly take on extremist elements on the Pakistani-Afghan border besides airlifting operations.

Fifth, the AEW&C will be able to check air violations by enemy aircraft and launching of missiles within its range. Also, it can apparently track communications on the ground, troops movement, radars, missile sites and movement of ships.

However, at the same time, operation of an AEW&C system, like the Saab 2000, is not exactly a piece of cake for the service. As it is, AEW&C is a precious asset for any air force, especially the cash-starved PAF, and as such, it has to be well-guarded both at the ground and in the air. Accordingly, it has to fly in the company of several advanced interceptor aircraft that can take on any adversary.

But another threat that AWACS would face would be from surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and beyond-visual-range BVR missiles, which can be fired from across the border. Nevertheless, with two Rolls Royce AE 2100 engines, Saab 2000 remains one of the fastest turboprop aircraft in the world, achieving a cruise speed of 665 km/h (360 kt), though with a mounted antenna on its top, this speed may not be possible.

Yet another issue is that enemy forces could try to jam the equipment on board the Saab 2000. Therefore, the AEW&C will have to have on board jamming-resistant system with strong electronic countermeasures. Because the ERIEYE is an extremely fast scan radar, it would strongly resist electronic countermeasures.

Also, the Saab 2000 has to have long endurance and be able to stay at its station. For example, the E-3A Sentry, the most advanced AWACS in the world, has endurance of up to eight hours. While the PAF has been also trying to procure tanker aircraft, it is not known if the Saab turboprop would have refuelling capability. Nevertheless, the manufacturers claim that "the Saab 2000 aircraft is able to incorporate high-speed dash with low-speed loitering capability, with inherent fuel efficiency that meets demanding AEW&C requirements for performing a 180-degree turn in less than 30 seconds with an endurance of more than 9 hours."

Meanwhile, the Indians will be getting this year the first of the three Israeli Phalcon systems as part of a $1.1 billion deal signed in 2003. The Phalcon system is to be mounted on Russian Il-76 aircraft which the IAF has sourced from Uzbekistan. The Il-76 aircraft, with in-flight refuelling, can stay at their stations up to 14 hours. Earlier, the Russians had offered the Indian Air Force Beriev A-50 Mainstay AEW aircraft, dispatching two of them to India in April 2000. However, the deal fell through. The Indians have revived their indigenous AEW system that had suffered a setback in 1999 when the HS-748 platform crashed, killing the crew and five top scientists.

The introduction of Saab 2000 ERIEYE would introduce a new dimension to PAF's defensive capabilities, providing it with a top-of-the-line platform to deal with modern-day threats.