Article Posted on : - Nov 21, 2010

An unrelated photo of a Pakistani AWACS

ISLAMABAD (PTI): The induction of Chinese-made airborne warning and control system aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force beginning next year will bring about a "revolution" in air defence operations, the air force chief said Sunday.

Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, currently on a visit to China, told state-run APP news agency that his force has plans to induct four Shaanxi ZDK-03 AWACS aircraft in its inventory.

Suleman recently attended the roll out ceremony in Hanzhong for the first ZDK-03 aircraft designed specifically for PAF.

He said countries without AWACS aircraft mostly rely on ground-based radar systems that have "very serious limitations in terms of their surveillance and detection".

Highlighting the importance of the AWACS, Suleman said they can detect "any object flying from the enemy side and you can take action to counter the threat".

There will be a revolution in PAF's air defence operations after the induction of surveillance aircraft, he said.

"There are very few countries in the world having AWACS technology in their air forces," he said.

Suleman further said that the delivery of AWACS aircraft from Sweden to Pakistan has also begun and the Chinese-made surveillance planes will begin joining the PAF from the first quarter of next year, he said.