TSAMTO, October 13. The Pakistan Air Force is working on integrating the recently acquired Turkish Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles into the country's air defense system.
As reported by Janes.com, the Pakistani Air Force recently conducted air defense exercises using UAVs.
On the video of the exercises, the Air Force demonstrated the use of two Bayraktar TB2 reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicles of the Turkish company Baykar Defense and at least three Falco tactical UAVs of the Italian Leonardo Airborne and Space Systems.
How did you find out Janes.com, UAVs are integrated into the air defense system of the Southern Air Command of the Pakistan Air Force. Chief of Staff (Commander) Pakistan Air Force Air Marshal Zahir Ahmed Baber Sidhu recently visited one of the air bases of the Southern Command to assess the integration of newly acquired UAVs into the operational structure of the Air Force.
Recall that for the first time unofficial information about Pakistan's purchase of the Bayraktar TB2 UAV appeared in January 2022. In March 2022, the Public Relations Department of the Pakistan Air Force, as part of the activities related to the delivery of new J-10C fighters, published a video in which the Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci UAVs produced by Turkish Baykar Defense were demonstrated.
Posting the video on the official page of the Pakistan Air Force was the first confirmation that Pakistan has become a buyer of Turkish UAVs. However, officials of the Pakistan Air Force still do not disclose information about the quantity, cost and delivery time of the UAV.
Later, in June of this year, one of the UAVs was seen on satellite images of the Murid Airbase of the Pakistan Air Force, along with two ground control stations and various auxiliary equipment. As a rule, one station provides control of up to three UAVs. This may indicate that the Pakistani Air Force received at least 6 UAVs.
The Murid base is located in the Chakwal district of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The distance from the airbase to Indian Amritsar is 243 km, which allows the use of UAVs to control the situation in the border areas.
In the recently published document "National Security Policy (2022-2026)", Pakistan stated that it is "united by fraternal ties with Turkey" based on cultural, religious and historical proximity. It was stressed that Islamabad is committed to further improving bilateral economic ties and defense cooperation with Turkey.
