Reconnaissance and air strike have generally been a weakness of the PAF, since majority of the force is dedicated to Air Defence. Aside from the multi-role F-16 and perhaps podded Mirage-III ROSE, the Mirage-5 was the only dedicated recce fighter.
Do PAF ACM Suleiman's revelations mean that PAF has now honed this aspect?
Interestingly, he has noted that Fast Jets were more suited to the environment than helicopters. There may be bias in his arguments since it is the PA which operates the helicopter fleet there. Nevertheless, there is some alignment on this point with our own experience in Kargil.
Coming to the numbers quoted:
- 10,600 bombs
- 4,600 targets
- 80% use of LGBs
Assuming 2 bombs per target, it means that PAF has dropped 1840 LGBs (0.8 x 2300). I find that a stretch as the intensity matches US/NATO numbers in Afghanistan:
http://www.snappingturtle.net/flit/arch ... 04_13.html
Moreover that would mean they are consuming their inventory very quick:
Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jeffry Glenn said the United States delivered 1,000 MK-82 500-pound bombs to Pakistan last month, and was considering additional requests for those bombs and more laser-guided tail kits.
Glenn said an initial batch of 700 GBU-12 and 300 GBU-10 Paveway laser-guided bomb kits built by Lockheed and Raytheon Co (RTN.N) would be delivered to Pakistan this month, allowing the Pakistani air force to outfit the MK-82 bombs delivered last month with sophisticated technology that allows better targeting of the weapons.