US plans "significant" Pakistan missile sale

Well, I suppose it depends in part on which aircraft Pakistan plans on using – I had a feeling they were planning on giving their Navy some of the new JF-17s, so I suspect there would be no problem with them. The problem comes when you consider the P-3s and subs – the subs probably should not be too much of a problem, since they are Agostas, so the Chinese Exocets should not be a problem – but the P-3s could prove a big problem. I suppose it all depends on who does the integrating, the Chinese could probably get the P-3s to fire their missiles, but the US might not be keen on the Chinese playing with their aircraft.

Not so sure about the need to refit all the radars – the missiles integrate with the ships systems, not the other way round (in part because the choice of missiles evolves over time, as newer missiles come on the market), so you should basically be able to ‘plug and play’ the missiles. Also, the Chinese missiles would probably be the Exocet clones, so (logical deduction, which could be completely wrong!) just about anything that can fire Exocets should be able to fire the Exocet clones.

I am not surprised by the big aircraft deals – there is real political capital in those, but the deals for missiles are not major procurements (in PR terms anyway). The F-16 purchase made a lot of sense – apart from anything else, it reinforces the concept of which side Pakistan is on, and the Saab 2000 deal made a lot of sense (or at least, the Erieye part did, not sure about the Saab 2000 bit, brilliant aircraft, but out of production for a while…), since Erieye is a proven system, unlike any of the Chinese offerings.

My point was really that, given the choice of a Harpoon for (just for example) $250k, or a Chinese Exocet copy for $125k (again, just for example, no idea how much they are genuinely charging), I think I would go for the cheaper option. It does make a lot of sense to diversify the sourcing of armaments, but ammunition is generally one of the areas where the lowest bidder (within reason) normally wins out!

SSM,ASM selection also depends on the Guidence package too. I’m wondering if US guidence equipement can work with Chinese missiles…

integration with YJ series missile would require American companies posessing Chinese source codes which I believe Central Military Commision would have a hard time swallowing…

Buying YJ missiles would also mean refit of guidence radars on all platforms. I don’t think that would be a much cheaper option…

It seems Pakistan has been giving alot of thought regarding the standing of its Navy. So alot of thrust recently has been towards it. Sea versions of stand off weapon and now Harpoons. I wonder where does this put Pakistan Navy in terms of Defence considering a larger Indian Navy force.
comments guys?

I am not surprised by the big aircraft deals – there is real political capital in those, but the deals for missiles are not major procurements (in PR terms anyway). The F-16 purchase made a lot of sense – apart from anything else, it reinforces the concept of which side Pakistan is on, and the Saab 2000 deal made a lot of sense (or at least, the Erieye part did, not sure about the Saab 2000 bit, brilliant aircraft, but out of production for a while…), since Erieye is a proven system, unlike any of the Chinese offerings.

My point was really that, given the choice of a Harpoon for (just for example) $250k, or a Chinese Exocet copy for $125k (again, just for example, no idea how much they are genuinely charging), I think I would go for the cheaper option. It does make a lot of sense to diversify the sourcing of armaments, but ammunition is generally one of the areas where the lowest bidder (within reason) normally wins out!

In some ways I am surprised to see them paying for expensive Harpoons – the Chinese would probably be happy to sell their anti-shipping missiles, and probably for half the price!

… ?
Are you also surprised at the F-16 deal too?
Or are you surprised at the Saab 2000 deal?

Chinese have offered alternatives yet it seems Pakistan seem to want to diversify its armaments…

In some ways I am surprised to see them paying for expensive Harpoons – the Chinese would probably be happy to sell their anti-shipping missiles, and probably for half the price!

Not all of these are AGMs, some are sub launched and some are ship launched. Personally, I think this isn’t that good of an idea.