Pakistan’s indigenous UAVs: Uqaab, Jasoos, Mukhbar & Burraq
When the war on terror began, Pakistan requested predator drones for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) so that the Pakistanis could monitor the 2500 kilometer long Durand Line. The request was refused. Pakistan also requested helicopters, and asked the USA to launch a satellite for Pakistan. The requests fell on deaf ears. Pakistan also requested 80,000 M-16s or Klashnikovs for the Frontier Corps who are still using WW2 vintage rifles. The guns have still not arrived. However Pakistan was asked to “Do More.”
Pakistan as a Major Non-Nato Ally (MNNA) and a founding member of SEATO and CENTO has not been given a single Predator or Reaper. Pakistan has an indigenous UAV capacity, but its drones cannot fire armaments. At present the laser guided technology helps it to identify targets and then relay that information to a helicopter gunship or a plane. Islamabad is in desperate need of UAV which can fire at the target. Need predicates development, and necessity is the mother of invention. It is like being under sanction. Pakistan was under sanctions when it designed and built the JF-17 Thunder with the Chinese. Now the latest UAVis being built with Turkish and Chinese help. Pakistan’s latest UAV is called the Burraq named after a mythical flying horse.
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ISLAMABAD — After years of watching U.S. drones operate along its Afghan border, Pakistan is working on its own Predator-like unmanned aerial vehicle to undertake the same mission, sources here said. The sources said the country’s air force and government-owned defense conglomerate, the National Engineering and Scientific Commission, are flight-testing a new-design aircraft to be equipped with a NESCom-designed laser designator and laser-guided missiles. The Burraq UAV is named for a winged horse creature in Islamic tradition, similar to Pegasus.
According to local news reports, Pakistan is focusing its unmanned aircraft efforts on upgrading various older UAVs with Chinese help. But the sources note that no domestically produced UAVis large enough to heft both a missile and a targeting system. The military’s most capable UAV is the air force’s Selex Galileo Falco, which can laser-designate targets for other platforms but cannot deliver munitions.
Officials with the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Defence Production here refused to confirm or deny the program’s existence. A spokesman for the military’s Inter Services Public Relations said it was “not ready to give a statement on the issue at this time.” One former air force officer said the notion of a Pakistan-developed hunter-killer UAV is credible. “You only have to see our track record,” said Kaiser Tufail, a retired air commodore. “We have some fantastic achievements in the field of defense.”
Tufail said Pakistan needs such a weapon. Anti-terror operations on the frontier require “hours and hours of round-the-clock reconnaissance,” married with the ability to strike quickly when a target is spotted, he said. Help from China? Analysts were more dubious about Pakistan’s ability to produce a laser-guided missile, but they noted that help might be found in China or Turkey. Turkey, with whom Pakistan has an agreement to cooperate on UAV development, is seeking an armed UAV, preferably the Predator or MQ-9 Reaper. This UAVmay someday be armed with the UMTAS infrared guided anti-tank missile being developed by the Turkish firm Roketsan to arm the T-129 attack helicopter.
Pakistan could simply produce China’s new CH-3 unmanned combat air vehicle, “or co-produce any number of Chinese components to assemble a unique UCAV,” said Richard Fisher, China specialist and senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center in Washington. “China has also developed the unique AR-1, a 45-kilogram, laser-guided attack missile, apparently designed specifically for light winged or helicopter UCAVs,” he said. Pakistan reported developing armed UAV By Usman Ansari – Staff writer, Saturday May 9, 2009 8:17:26 EDT
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The Burraq is based on the Falco – SELEX GALILEO technology. We produce information on the Selix Galileo so that an adequate comparision can be made with the Burraq.
The FALCO UAV System is a Medium Altitude Endurance & Tactical UAV designed for optronic and electronic surveillance roles. The basic mission is target detection, localization, identification and designation through its on-board sensors suite which typically include a thermal imager, a color TV Camera and a spotter, or a laser designator.
The best features of the FALCO System include automatic take-off and landing (with STOL performance), fully redundant and fault-tolerant control systems, digital buses and control link equipment, automatic area surveillance modes and near-real-time target image processing.
It really look very mush like the uqab or may be author is citing directly to uqab or if someone can tell they are using the Falco – SELEX GALILEO
The Burraq also uses the design if the Pegasus HALE UAV. The information on the Burraq is similar to the information on the Hale.
Until today, the use of unmanned aircraft has been hindered by the sheer size of the wingspan needed to carry the weight of the payload. With payloads often weighing up to 100 kg, the wingspan required would extend to 60 or 70 metres, creating a total weight of as much as 1000 kg. Aircraft with this weight and wingspan will not become operational for the next couple of years due to issues of air traffic control, safety regulations and technological hurdles such as the development of appropriate fuel cell technology.
We bring you Pegasus, an integrated approach to mission-specific payload, aircraft, control systems and data processing technology. By developing a new generation of ultra light and extremely compact remote sensing equipment, we have been able to reduce the aircraft wingspan to just 16 metres and total flying weight to a mere 18 kg. Furthermore, because these aircraft are designed to be raised into place using the same kind of balloon that is used for weather sounding, no airstrips are required and air control regulations do not apply. The aircaft are taken up in an almost vertical position and reach their operational altitude within 90 minutes. Once in place, the solar powered engines are started and the aircraft is ready to act on instructions received from ground control. The recorded images are then sent to the central database at the ground station from where they are sent on to the customer. Using highly sophisticated software technology, the data can also be processed and analysed, and delivered in a wide variety of graphical and mapped formats, as required.
Pakistan has been using its own drones which it has been manufacturing for a decade.
Pakistan UAVs: This article is Rupee News-RIR (RN-Research in Progress) and will be updated periodically.
..there are several public sector companies involved in developing UAVs in Pakistan, including the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Air Weapons Complex (AWC) and National Development Complex (NDC).
The PAC’s Uqaabdrone is in use by the Pakistan Army, and, according to unconfirmed reports, is being upgraded with Chinese help to carry a weapons payload. Other PAC UAVs include the Bazz and Ababeel. AWC’s Bravo+ UAV is in use of the Pakistan Airforce (PAF). The PAF recently acquired an unarmed Italian drone called the Falco UAV, which is reportedly being used for surveillance and battleground assessments in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In 2008, the Pakistan Navy also reportedly completed trials of UAVs – the Austrian Schiebel Camcopter S-100 and Swedish Cybaero – from a Pakistani frigate in the Arabian Sea.
Private sector companies are also involved in the design and development of UAVs. Apart from ID in Karachi, East-West Infinity (EWI), Satuma and Global Industrial Defense Solutions (GIDS) are in the drone-making business.
The EWI’s Heliquad UAV is considered a stealth design because of its small size and Whisper Watch signals intelligence package, which is capable of picking up radio and other communication signals. ID’s Nishan Mk1 and TJ1000, Vision MK1 & MK2, Tornado, Border Eagle, Hornet, Hawk and Vector are also popular models employed by the armed forces for reconnaissance missions and target practice (each model varies in range and endurance). Satuma’s UAVs, with similar functionalities, are called Flamingo, Jasoos and Mukhbar. For its part, the GIDS develops the Huma-1 UAV and its own version of the Uqaab.
Even though almost all UAVs in the country have been built for military applications – reconnaissance, simulations, decoy systems, remote sensing – none of them are reported to be capable of firing arms. Moreover, none of the above-mentioned facilities are involved in large-scale, mass production of UAVs.Dawn. Drones: Made in Pakistan By Salman Siddiqui Friday, 24 Apr, 2009 | 10:23 PM PST |
This is picture of Pakistan high speed drone which is under wraps.
The latest Uqaab is one in a series of Unmanned Aircraft being deveopled by Pakistan. Pakistan has been working very closesly with the Turks who have had access to Israeli technology on UAV development.
March 24, 2008: Pakistan announced the successful completion of flight tests of a new UAV, the Uqaab. The design looks very similar to models offered by a Pakistani firm, Integrated Dynamics, which has been producing smaller (under 500 pounds) UAVs for the government and commercial market since 1997. The Uqaab also appears similar to the U.S. Army RQ-7B Shadow 200. Each Shadow 200 UAV platoon has 22 troops and operates 3-4 UAVs, plus the ground control equipment. Typically, each combat brigade has one Shadow UAV platoon. Each 350 pound Shadow 200 UAV cost $500,000, and can stay in the air 5.5 hours per sortie. A day camera and night vision camera is carried on each aircraft. Able to fly as high as 15,000 feet, the Shadow can thus go into hostile territory and stay high enough (over 10,000 feet) to be safe from hostile rifle and machine-gun fire.
The Integrated Dynamics UAVs appear to operate in a manner similar to the Shadow 200, which is not high tech, just good engineering and quality manufacturing. Integrated Dynamics has many export customers, including some in the United States.
Integrated Dynamics provides design, consultancy and turn-key project commissioning for Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle (UAV) systems. We can assist you from the ground up in the rapid completion of your project from the conceptual stage to actual proto type flight tests in the shortest possible time.
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Our new ‘Civilian UAV’ systems are designed for electronic news gathering, police surveillance, border and coastal patrol requiring no more than two crew members to operate.
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Export restrictions apply. The sale of certain products is subject to an end-user certification and approval by the Government of Pakistan and DEPO (Defence Export Promotion Organization).
RQ-7 Shadow 200
The Shadow 200 short-range TUAV (Tactical UAV) was developed by AAI Corp. in the 1990s. When the RQ-6 Outrider TUAV ran into continued troubles in the 1997/98 time frame, the U.S. Army decided to conduct a competitive evaluation between the Outrider and Shadow 200 TUAV systems in 1999. The latter was declared winner of this competition, and AAI subsequently received a first LRIP (Low-Rate Initial Production) contract to provide Shadow 200 systems for further testing and evaluation. The UAV itself was officially designated RQ-7A. Between April 2001 and late 2002, the IOT&E (Initial Operational Test & Evaluation) phase of the program was conducted successfully, and in October 2002 the Shadow 200 was approved for full-rate production.
Photo: AAI RQ-7A
The RQ-7A is of the same twin-boom pusher layout as several other battlefield UAVs, like e.g. the RQ-2 Pioneer and the RQ-5 Hunter. It is powered by a UEL AR-741 rotary engine, and has a non-retractable tricycle landing gear for conventional wheeled take-off and landing. The RQ-7A can also be launched from a catapult and has a tailhook to catch arresting cables for a shorter landing run. A Shadow 200 system consists of four RQ-7A air vehicles and the associated equipment.
The latter includes two GCSs (Ground Control Stations), from where the operators have full control over the UAVs and their sensors. Both LOS (Line-Of-Sight) and non-LOS datalinks are provided for command uplink and sensor data downlink. The Shadow 200 UAVcan be equipped with a GPS-based navigation system for fully autonomous operations. The UAV’s tasks include day/night reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition and BDA (Bomb Damage Assessment). The primary mission payload for the initial (Block 1) RQ-7A production vehicles is an IAI Tamam POP (Plug-In Optronic Payload) IR/EO (Infrared/Electro-Optical) sensor turret, but Block 2 vehicles are planned to use an improved Wescam EO/IR sensor. Other payloads are also under consideration, including a SAR/MTI (Synthetic Aperture Radar/Moving Target Indicator) unit. Photo: U.S. Army RQ-7A
By March 2004, the U.S. Army has ordered 33 Shadow 200 systems (4 aircraft each) plus a number of additional air vehicles as attrition replacements. 20 systems have been delivered, and current procurement plans call for a total of up to 88 systems.
In August 2004, the improved RQ-7B air vehicle began to roll off from AAI’s production line. The RQ-7B has larger wings witha more efficient airfoil and increased fuel capacity, allowing an endurance of up to 7 hours. Additionally, the vehicle has an enlarged tail, upgraded avionics (including an improved flight controller with an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) and increased computing power), and new payload options. The RQ-7B will also be fitted with the Army’s Tactical Common Data Link (TCDL).
Specifications: Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!
Data for RQ-7A/B:
•Length 3.40 m (11 ft 2 in)
•Wingspan 3.89 m (12 ft 9 in) 4.27 m (14 ft)
•Height 0.91 m (3 ft 0 in)
•Weight max: 149 kg (328 lb); empty: 75 kg (165 lb) max: 170 kg (375 lb)
•Speed max: 204 km/h (110 knots); loiter: 130 km/h (70 knots) max: 194 km/h (105 knots); loiter: 111 km/h (60 knots)
•Ceiling 4270 m (14000 ft) 4570 m (15000 ft)
•Range 125 km (67 nm)
•Endurance 5 h 7 h
•Propulsion UEL AR-741 rotary engine; 28.3 kW (38 hp)
Main Sources
[1] Kenneth Munson (ed.): “Jane’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Targets, Issue 15″, Jane’s, 2000
[2] Tom Kaminski: “The Future is Here”, article in Combat Aircraft Vol. 4, No. 6, 2003
[3] AAI Corp. Website
[4]
PR Newswire Story, 4 August 2004
[5] “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Roadmap, 2005-2030″, Office of the Secretary of Defense, August 2005
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