New Saab-2000 AEW & C Airborne Radars for Pakistani Air Force: What's the Trick of Islamabad's Strategy?
A very interesting situation has been developing recently with the renewal of the fleet of the Pakistan Air Force. Despite the fact that at the end of 2015 - the beginning of 2016, dozens of notes appeared in the Russian and foreign media regarding the upcoming contract between JSC Rosoboronexport and the Ministry of Defense of Pakistan, through the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation, for the purchase of super-maneuverable multi-role fighters Su-35S, in November 2016, all the rumors were immediately refuted by the statement of the director of the Second Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Zamir Kabulov, who confirmed the absence of negotiations between Moscow and Islamabad on a deal on these machines. The Sputnik agency noted that it was the Russian side that initiated the rejection of the Pakistani Defense Ministry's request. This is not at all surprising, because any sale of Russian weapons of a new generation to potential adversaries of India causes great indignation in official Delhi, which subsequently negatively affects interaction on such serious multi-billion dollar programs as FGFA, where the Indians, represented by the HAL aircraft manufacturing company, often they require too many technological “goodies” from the “Dry” Company, in particular, the manufacturing technology of the “Product 30” turbofan engine and advanced on-board radars with active phased array Sh-121 (N036 “Belka”), including additional side-scan antenna arrays N036B-1 -01B/L.
The multifunctional Su-35S, which are a very serious type of tactical weapon capable of “wresting” air supremacy from even machines such as the F-22A “Raptor”, were sold to China as the most important and time-tested strategic ally in the Asia-Pacific region; moreover, relations between Beijing and Delhi are quite balanced. It is still too early to include Islamabad in the list of such close partners. And the level of stability of the regime in the Celestial Empire fully guarantees a far from pro-Western further foreign policy course, which cannot be said with certainty about Pakistan.
For this reason, the latter can only rely on the technology of its closest ally, China, as well as defense products of Western European, South African and Turkish origin. The former include JF-4 Block I/II multi-role tactical fighters of the 17+ generation, which are manufactured under license at the Pakistani Aeronatical Complex (PAC); The Pakistan Air Force is armed with 81 vehicles of this type, and a promising version with a reduced radar signature JF-17 Block III with active phased array and its modification of the 5th generation are under development. The second group includes high-precision weapons, as well as suspended optoelectronic sighting systems: South African planning UAB "Raptor-1/2", tactical cruise missiles "Raptor-3" and Turkish optoelectronic systems WMD-7 "ASELPOD". Far from modern tactical fighters Mirage-III-EP / O, Mirage-5-PA / DPA and F-16C / D Block 52 continue to be in service.
Possessing far from the most powerful airborne radars with the AN / APG-68 (V) 9 SAR, which have low noise immunity and a detection range of small targets with an EPR of 3 m2 of about 105 km, the Pakistani Falcons cannot give pilots full information about the tactical air situation at a distance of more than 120 km, even without the use of the enemy (in our case, India) aviation complexes of electronic countermeasures. With the use of the latter, the range is reduced to 40 - 60 km. Under such conditions, the Pakistani Air Force, in the event of a conflict with Delhi, will not be able to oppose anything to the most powerful Indian Air Force, even in local air battles on individual airborne forces, because the number of Su-30MKI alone (225 fighters capable of detecting JF-17 at a distance of 180 km) exceeds the entire Pakistani fleet of the 4th generation, and there are also such "tactics" as "Tejas Mk1 / 2", "Rafale" and far from the worst MiG-29UPG. To begin with, Pakistan needed a quick, efficient and inexpensive solution that could increase the information coverage of all fighter aviation squadrons without exception, as well as ground-based air defense systems, by an order of magnitude. This decision was the purchase of Chinese and Swedish radar patrol and guidance aircraft, which should be given special attention.
The first contract for the purchase of 4 ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle AWACS aircraft was signed between the Pakistani Ministry of Defense and China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) in 2008; the delivery was carried out in 2011-2013. Developed on the basis of the Y-8F-400 transport aircraft, the ZDK-03 carry a powerful all-round radar system based on the AFAR with an instrumental range of about 450 km. Fighters of the 4th generation with an RCS of 1m2 are detected at a distance of approximately 320-340 km, cruise missiles with an RCS of 0,1 m2 - at a distance of 175 km. Four airborne radars of this type are already enough to fully control the Indian-Pakistani air border, not only in the direction of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir, but also in the region of the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. All 4 machines, which are in service with the 3rd squadron of the Pakistani Air Force, are capable of simultaneously tracking more than 1500 aerospace targets of various classes, issuing target designation to fighter squadrons in part of them.
Here it is necessary to clarify that, judging by the information provided by the quwa.org resource on April 5, 2016, only fighters with a Chinese element base, in particular, JF-03 Block I / II / II, will be able to receive target designation from the ZDK-17 "Karakoram Eagle", since it is in their avionics that a terminal for exchanging tactical data via the Link-17 radio channel can be installed without problems. Very little is known about the latter at the moment, but based on last year's very informative report by journalist Wajahat Saeed Khan on the activities of the Pakistan Air Force's combat use center (the so-called "School of Combat Commanders"), the Link-17 advanced tactical network has already passed a series of tests like on ground and air carriers. In particular, the possibility of using a new secure radio channel for transmitting target coordinates not only to the JF-17 fighter jets, but also to the SD-10 BVRAAM missiles launched by them, and later the “straight-through” PL-21D, equipped with active RGSN, was discussed. This will enable Pakistani fighters to avoid a dangerous approach to the Indian Su-30MKI at the launch distance of the R-77 URVV, and even worse, to engage in close maneuvering combat, which the Su-30MKI will definitely win.
In other words, if the Link-17 network reaches operational readiness, and long-range air combat missiles receive the appropriate radio correction channel reception modules within this network, then the Pakistan Air Force will even be able to compensate for the lower capabilities of its fighter airborne radars. For example, JF-17 Block II / III can be used exclusively as a carrier of DVB missiles, and target designation will be performed by ZDK-03 operators. Another example of network-centrism in air superiority operations. Meanwhile, the pilots of the Indian "Rafales" may also have a good asymmetric response as a "straight-through" long-range URVV MBDA "Meteor", but here everything is written with a pitchfork on the water, since there is no information about the attempts of the Indian defense structures, including HAL and DRDO, to equip their AWACS A-50EI aircraft with a single data exchange channel with Rafals and Meteor missiles. It is possible that later such an adaptation will be carried out for Indian air-breathers of the Astra family.
In the same turn, seeing the growing threat from the qualitatively and quantitatively superior Indian Air Force, Pakistan decided not to limit itself to four Chinese ZDK-03s, and in parallel entered into a contract with the Swedish Saab for the purchase of 4 more Saab-2000 AEW & C AWACS aircraft with radar complex PS-890 "Erieye" on board. This station, designed by Ericsson, is also represented by a solid-state active phased array, but with a more primitive 2-sided design. AFAR canvases of 200 transceiver modules on each are fixed on a flat container above the fuselage of the Saab-2000 turboprop aircraft. and rear hemispheres there are "dark zones" of 150º each. To scan them, the aircraft needs to make turns. In the extreme parts of the field of view, the energy potential of the APAA is reduced to minimum values, which leads to a significant decrease in the detection range. Operating in the decimeter S-band, the PS-30 has an instrumental range of 890 km, and the target detection range with an EPR of 450m1, exactly like that of the Chinese ZDK-2, reaches approximately 03 km. Cooling of the PPM antenna sheets occurs due to the air flow coming from the frontal air intake on the container with the radar.
The light 900-kilogram 2-sided active phased array radar PS-890 "Erieye" has a length of 9750 mm and a width of only 780 mm, which makes it possible to convert a huge number of modifications of regional turboprop and jet aircraft into light "airborne radars". So, in the Swedish Air Force, this radar was installed: on a light passenger aircraft from the US company Fairchild - SA.227AC "Metro-III" (index SA.227 AEW) as an experiment, on the Swedish "Saab-340" as serial aircraft RLDN "Saab-340 AEW". The air forces of Greece, India and Mexico purchased the PS-890 based on the Brazilian jet aircraft Embraer-145 (ERJ-145).
The fixed radar PS-890 "Erieye" is significantly inferior to the Chinese product, since its maximum efficiency is achieved only in a 90 - 120 degree scanning angle and requires periodic maneuvering of the carrier aircraft, while the Chinese sample, on the contrary, provides an all-angle view. However, the Saab-2000 AEW&C has its own tactical advantages in terms of Erieye hardware and carrier performance. In particular, the Saab-2000 AEW&C are equipped with Link-16 terminals without any special adaptation problems. They are essential for transmitting tactical information to the Pakistani Air Force F-16C / D Block 52 multi-role fighters, which are not "sharpened" for use in the tactical network of the Pakistani-Chinese development "Link-17". As for the Pakistani Mirages, they can be equipped with Link-17 modules. Otherwise, these fighters will reach the target not by telecode information, but by radio voice messages from the ZDK-03 "Karakoram Eagle" or "Saab AEW & C".
The list of advantages of the Saab-2000 air carrier includes: more than 2 times greater efficiency of two Allison AE2100A turboprop engines with a power of 4209 hp each. each (ZDK-03 has 4 Zhuzhou Wojiang-6 TVDs with a capacity of 4252 hp each); as well as the ease and relatively low cost of maintenance compared to a heavy Chinese car. ZDK-03 has its advantages associated with a 5-fold excess in terms of fuel mass (22909 versus 4640 kg), which allows you to compensate for a larger number of engines. Thanks to this, the Karakoram Eagle has about 2 times the range (2500 km versus 1300), as well as the time spent in the air. If we do not take into account the need for more maintenance personnel and low fuel economy, then in its main purpose - long-range radar detection with a maximum time in the air, the Chinese ZDK-03 is significantly superior to the Swedish "Saab-2000 AEW & C".
Despite the shortcomings of the Swedish RLDN described above, the Ministry of Defense and the command of the Pakistan Air Force liked it, and at the end of April 2017, a contract was signed for 3 additional Saab-2000 AEW & C. Apparently, the Pakistanis, with their small air border with India (about 1750 km), are quite satisfied with the existing range of the Swedish machine. The fact that the first contract (according to various sources) was paid by Saudi Arabia, which in the 14th year acquired only 1 aircraft of this type, also affected. One of the four machines received under the first contract was lost at the Kamra airbase on August 16, 2012 at the time of the Islamist attack. To date, along with 3 ordered Saabs, the Pakistani Air Force has 10 AWACS aircraft capable of controlling the situation over the entire territory of their own state, as well as deep into the airspaces of India, Afghanistan and the neutral zone over the Arabian Sea. Moreover, the above-mentioned RLDN aircraft have hardware and software capabilities for conducting passive electronic reconnaissance in a wide frequency range (from L to Ka-band), which will not leave unnoticed any radio-emitting means of the Indian army at sea, on land and in the air, located in within the radio horizon.
By 2020, the fleet of Pakistani air radars will be in 3rd place among the air forces of the states of Western, South and East Asia, second only to Chinese and Japanese; and therefore, after a large-scale program for updating the Pakistani Air Force with advanced JF-17 Block III fighters, or 5th generation J-31 Krechet machines, Islamabad, especially under Chinese patronage, will become a serious military-political "counterweight" to Delhi's plans in Central Asia . And Pakistan will be able to look at the protracted territorial dispute over the ownership of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from a completely different angle.
Information sources:
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/2626235.html
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/spy/zdk03.html
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/spy/saab340.html
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/spy/a50ei.html
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2016-02-16/saab-launches-globaleye-swing-role-surveillance
Information