Manoj Ambat's Blog dealing with Defence, Foreign Affairs, Strategic Affairs and Politics

Image credits- The Diplomat/ Pakistani Armed Forces When the Pakistani military announced the launch of a comprehensive anti-terrorist operation in North Waziristan and other tribal agencies of the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) called “Zarb-e-Azb” (named after one of the swords belonging to the Prophet Muhammad) in June, many feared an escalation of violence throughout the country, with a significant increase in terrorist attacks, especially in urban centers, where organizations like the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and others have both active and dormant cells. Now more than two and a half months later, not only did this scenario not materialize, there has even been a noticeable decrease in attacks and the number of victims. According to the  South Asia Terrorism Portal , in the months of July and August terrorist attacks killed 245 civilians, while in the same period of 2013 the number was 464. Two years earlier, in 2011, it was 853. The data suggest that the

JF-17 Thunder ( Image Credits- Wikimedia Commons/ Jetphotos.net) ISLAMABAD — Contrary to speculation, development of the JF-17 aircraft continues apace with avionics and weapons carriage capability improvements, work ongoing on future variants, and impending establishment of the third squadron. Chief Project Director of the JF-17 program, Air Vice Marshal Javed Ahmed, told Defense News the program was “as per schedule and there are no delays,” saying the current fleet had logged 10,000 hours and flown over 13,500 sorties. He also revealed the third squadron would be raised after Exercise High Mark 2014 toward the end of the year. Chief among these improvements are avionics, with Ahmed highlighting they are aimed at improving “situational awareness” and the “performance and lethality of the aircraft,” but still centered on the NRIET KLJ-7 radar which supports the SD-10 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. However, building on local capability, “integrating some additional smart

A Yuan Class submarine ( Pic courtesy Wikimedia commons and the author) Pakistan is planning to purchase six conventional submarines from China as a way to counter the influence of expanding Indian maritime power, the Military-Industrial Courier, a Russian-language website focused on global defense issues reported on April 3. Rana Tanveer Hussain, Pakistan's minister of defense production, is currently visiting Beijing to discuss the purchase of submarines from China, according to information released by the Pakistani government. Reports have circulated that Islamabad will sign a contract with Beijing before the end of the year to introduce six Type 041 Yuan-class diesel-electric submarines, to be constructed at either the Wuhan or Jiangnan shipyard. However, some experts say that the submarines will be S20s, the export version of the Type 041. The only difference between the Type 041 and the S20 is that the latter does not have the former's air-independent propulsion

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