NEW DELHI: Pakistan has lost almost half of its sophisticated long-range maritime snooping and strike capabilities in just one well-targeted jihadi attack on naval base PNS Mehran in Karachi that ended on Monday after a 15-hour gun-battle which left 10 security persons and four attackers dead. At least two of the five P-3C Orion long-range patrol aircraft, supplied to Pakistan Navy by the US, were destroyed in the attack.
The irony is stark. Pakistan got the P-3C Orions, packed with radars and weapons like the E-2C Hawkeye 2000 airborne early-warning suites and anti-ship Harpoon missiles, from the US as part of the around $15 billion military aid in the name of the global war on terrorism over the last decade.
India cried foul, holding that Orions as well as other weapons like F-16s were clearly meant for conventional warfare, not counter-terrorism. Al-Qaida or the Taliban, after all, did not have an air force or a navy. And now, in a role reversal, the Pakistan Taliban has destroyed at least two, if not more, of the four-engine turboprop Orions, probably seeing them "as legitimate targets".
"It's quite a significant loss for Pakistan Navy...almost 50% of its long-range maritime patrol capabilities has suddenly been taken out," said an Indian Navy officer. As per Pakistan-watchers here, Pakistan is slated to get a total of 10 upgraded Orions, with eight of them supposed to arrive by 2012.
"They had five as of now, two older ones which were upgraded and three newer ones. If the two destroyed in the attack are the newer platforms, the loss will be even more significant," said another officer.
The irony is stark. Pakistan got the P-3C Orions, packed with radars and weapons like the E-2C Hawkeye 2000 airborne early-warning suites and anti-ship Harpoon missiles, from the US as part of the around $15 billion military aid in the name of the global war on terrorism over the last decade.
India cried foul, holding that Orions as well as other weapons like F-16s were clearly meant for conventional warfare, not counter-terrorism. Al-Qaida or the Taliban, after all, did not have an air force or a navy. And now, in a role reversal, the Pakistan Taliban has destroyed at least two, if not more, of the four-engine turboprop Orions, probably seeing them "as legitimate targets".
"It's quite a significant loss for Pakistan Navy...almost 50% of its long-range maritime patrol capabilities has suddenly been taken out," said an Indian Navy officer. As per Pakistan-watchers here, Pakistan is slated to get a total of 10 upgraded Orions, with eight of them supposed to arrive by 2012.
"They had five as of now, two older ones which were upgraded and three newer ones. If the two destroyed in the attack are the newer platforms, the loss will be even more significant," said another officer.
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY HAS TO REALLY WAKE UP FROM THE SHACKLES OF SLUMBER....................REALLY THE PLIGHT OF A NORMAL PAK CITIZEN IS GETTING WORSE DAY BY DAY
ReplyDelete