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Showing posts with the label Pakistani defence

Revealed: Why China Is Selling Submarines to Pakistan ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Benjamin David Baker)

PLAN Submarine ( Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Darkranch23) Source- The Diplomat Author- Benjamin David Baker As previously covered by The Diplomat, Pakistan announced earlier this year that it has agreed to purchase eight modified Type 41 Yuan-class diesel-electric submarines from China. These boats will provide Islamabad with much-needed Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) capabilities against the Indian Navy in case of war. This would be especially useful in case of an Indian blockade of Pakistan’s coast and could give New Delhi grounds to pause before deploying its planned new aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant. A Yuan-class submarine is undoubtedly a great piece of kit. It is China’s first class of submarines to incorporate an indigenously designed- and constructed Air-Independent Propulsion system (AIP), giving it a cruise speed of 18 knots and an operational range of 8,000 nautical miles. Although the export version of the Yuan, named the S-20, does not

Pakistan's New Military Budget: By the Numbers ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Shane Mason)

Source- Wikimedia Commons / Credits- MORS Source- The National Interest Author- Shane Mason While the release of Pakistan's new defense budget went unremarked in Washington, the country's importance demands an in-depth review. It should come as no surprise that the release of Pakistan’s federal budget on June 5 went unremarked in Washington. Nevertheless, Pakistan’s budget—particularly its defense budget— will quietly attract the attention of American officials and analysts who work this issue because important U.S. interests are engaged in Pakistan. Pakistan is a large country with the potential to enjoy robust economic growth and attract foreign investment. It is a front-line state in the fight against violent extremism, and it is one of the world’s nuclear powers. The United States, in other words, wants Pakistan to succeed. Its national budget can help or hinder success. Pakistan’s potential won’t be realized until it is at peace with itself and it

Battlefield Nukes Won't Save Pakistan ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Saira Bano)

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Syed Naqvi90 Source- The National Interest Author- Saira Bano Nuclear relations in South Asia cannot be fully analyzed without taking into account the China factor. Strategic relations between China, India, and Pakistan constitute a unique nuclear triangle in which the parties share a history of conflicts and border disputes. Two earlier nuclear triangles — the U.S.-Europe-USSR and the U.S.-USSR-China—provide a framework to analyze how these nuclear triangles are different from each other, as well as what similarities exist. One commonality is the fear that a small nuclear power is the most likely state to initiate a war. It is, therefore, important to pay attention to the nuclear postures of small states in a triangle. In the first nuclear triangle, France developed battlefield nuclear weapons. China, in the second triangle, maintained an “assured retaliation” posture. Pakistan, like France, has adopted an offensive nuclear p

Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons Program: 5 Things You Need to Know ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri)

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Sayed Naqvi Source- The National Interest Author-Akhilesh Pillalamarri While the world continues to focus primarily on the threat of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, a potentially much greater nuclear threat has emerged just to its east: Pakistan, the Islamic world’s only nuclear-weapons state. Pakistan is one of the world’s only eight declared nuclear powers and probably the one that causes the most mischief. Pakistan sponsors and harbors militant groups that carry out attacks in all of its neighbors: India, Afghanistan, Iran, and even China. Although Pakistan argues that its nuclear weapons are well-guarded, many experts are not so sure, pointing out that the Taliban and other militants have frequently struck at supposedly secure military bases with impunity. More worrisome, though, is Pakistan’s history of proliferation, which increases the chance that one day some element or the other in the Pakistani military will pro

Pakistan's Looming Disaster in Yemen ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri)

Image source- Wikimedia Commons Source- The National Interest Author- Akhilesh Pillalamarri The possibility of Pakistan, a non-Arab South Asian country becoming embroiled in Yemen’s civil war is very high, as Saudi Arabia has been leaning heavily on Pakistan to join its military coalition there. Pakistani involvement could include the deployment of land forces. There are already hundreds of Pakistani troops in Saudi Arabia conducting joint exercises with Saudi forces and Pakistan has voiced support for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen. Explicit Pakistani involvement in Yemen could be dangerous for it, both militarily and politically. Although Pakistan’s population is majority Sunni, unlike Saudi Arabia or Iran, Pakistan was not founded on the basis of any particular understanding of Islam. Rather, Pakistan was founded on the more general basis of Islam as a whole, in order to serve as a homeland for South Asia’s Muslims, whether Sunni or Shia. Around a fifth of Pakistan

Pakistan’s New Missile Disrupts Nuclear Stability in South Asia ( Source- South Asian Voices / The National Interest, Author- Arka Biswas)

Image credits- Internet Source Source- South Asian Voices/ The National Interest Author- Arka Biswas Pakistan recently test-fired a surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Shaheen III. Capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the missile is estimated to have a maximum range of 2750 km. While it has been claimed to provide a boost to Pakistan’s strategic depth and to deterrence stability in South Asia, a careful examination of how Shaheen III impacts the deterrence equation between India and Pakistan captures the latest Pakistani missile to be instead counter-productive. Shaheen III is the latest addition in the Shaheen series. The previously developed and successfully tested missile, Shaheen II, is estimated to have a range of around 2500 km. The range of Shaheen II continues to remain a rough estimate. For instance, right after Pakistan tested Shaheen II in March 2004, Pakistan’s National Engineering and Science Commission (NESCOM) chairman, Samar Mubarakmand, was quote

Does Pakistan Have a Sea-Based Second-Strike Capability? ( Source- The Diplomat /Author- Franz Stefan- Gady)

Augusta Submarine ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Yannik Le Bris) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz Stefan- Gady Back in 2012, Pakistan announced the creation of a Naval Strategic Force Command and hinted that the country now possessed a sea-based second nuclear strike capability. Today, almost three years later, Pakistan’s alleged maritime deterrent continues to puzzle analysts. The overall consensus of opinion is that the country has not acquired a sea-based second nuclear strike capability just yet. Another thing that most experts agree is that the delivery vehicle of an ocean-launched Pakistani nuclear warhead would be a submarine-launched variant of the Hatf-7 (Babur) cruise missile. According to a 2013 policy brief on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Pakistan already indicated in 2005, when the missile was first tested, that the system was designed to deploy in submarines. The Hatf-7 is a medium-range subsonic cruise missile with a reported

Is the JF-17 Really a Tough Sell for China and Pakistan? ( Source- The Diplomat, Author- Ankit Panda)

PAF J-17 ( Image credits- Wikimedia  Commons / Author- Aldo Bidini) Source- The Diplomat Author- Ankit Panda The JF-17 Thunder (also known as the FC-1 Xiaolong) is a lightweight, single-engine, multi-role combat aircraft developed jointly by Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation. With a relatively low unit cost of $15-25 million, price is the primary selling point for this capable and versatile jet which Flashpoints‘ Robert Farley has described as conceptually a “modern MiG-21.” Despite the seemingly positive bang-for-buck proposition, the JF-17 has had a hard time finding committed buyers. Indeed, part of the reason that defense procurement programs the world over have shirked the jet is prestige, but additionally, the jet remains largely unproven. While a few states have expressed interest, Pakistan and China received some bad news this week with the news that Egypt — a major regional military — will likely instead go with France’s Rafal

PAKISTAN’S TACTICAL NUCLEAR WEAPONS: THE INEVITABILITY OF INSTABILITY – ANALYSIS ( Copy Right @ The Eurasia Review, Author- Varun Sahni)

Babur Cruise Missile ( Image credits- Wikimedia commons/ Author- Skybolt101) Hatf IX (Nasr) is a Pakistani ballistic missile which can deliver a sub-kiloton nuclear warhead over a range of 60 km, or 37.3 miles. It is supposed to have entered service in 2013 and is believed to be fully integrated into Pakistan’s C3I (command, control, communications and intelligence). Its purported role is as a low-yield battlefield deterrent against mechanised columns. Should India – and the world – take Nasr seriously? The development and deployment of Nasr by Pakistan was inevitable and the impact of this tactical nuclear weapon (tac nuke) on the emerging India-Pakistan deterrence relationship is inherently destabilising. Defining Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Pakistani Context There are four different yardsticks by which tac nukes could be defined and classified. The first is the range of the missile: it must be short range, that is less than 80-100 km. The second is yield of warhead, co

PAKISTAN : A failed nation with Nuclear Weapons : A Dangerous World ( Copy Right @ The Defence News)

Pakistani Army ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Author) The words that define 'Pakistan' in the 21st century are Terrorist Attacks, Drone Strikes, Suicide Bombers, Nuclear Weapons, Natural Calamities, Political Instability, Military Rule, Radical Islam and an Economy on the verge of collapse. Currently the country's economy is failing dangerously to even meet its external payment obligations. External debt servicing of Pakistan rose to an alarming $7 billion in 2014 which is 80% of Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves. With no foreign inflows, no release of instalments from the IMF and no interest of foreign investors in the country has made the gravity of the situation even more alarming. The Nawaz Sharif civilian government that was elected 14 months ago has failed to defeat the terrorists or even stop their advance, get the economy back on track and also tame its own military. Islamic Radicalisation in the country has reached a completely new level where the