WASHINGTON (IslamOnline) - With the help of the Chinese, Pakistan will become a regional air power by the year 2003 when it will acquire 150 FC-1 jets that are being manufactured at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex near Islamabad.
The designs for these planes, an improved version of MIG-33, were acquired by China from the Russians before the Kargil war and were then given to General Pervez Musharraf.
Plans to manufacture the 150 FC-1s were reportedly made when Musharraf visited China and informed the Chinese of the poor shape of the Pakistan Air Force, making an urgent appeal for help in the manufacture of fighter jets.
According to the Security and Political Risk Analysis (SAPRA) journal, the jets will cost Pakistan $15 million each and will be equipped with Klimov Design Bureau RD-93 engines. They are a more powerful version of the RD-33 engines fitted in MIG-29 jets of the Indian Air Force.
These domestically made FC-1s will give Pakistan an edge over India in the next five years, according to security experts.
The Indian Air Force currently has 35 air squadrons that include MIG-21s, MIG-29s, Jaguars, Mirages and SU-30s. The Pakistanis have 20 squadrons comprised of MIG-21s, MIG19s and F-16s.
Also, the daily newspaper Jang reported on November 10 that Pakistan successfully completed the first cold test of a new short-range ballistic missile near Islamabad, another indication that Pakistan is developing its military strength.
Pakistan will showcase its military prowess next Tuesday at the start of an international defense exhibition in Karachi, which will launch the Pakistan-built state-of-the-art Super Mashak aircraft and Grifo-7 radar.
Also displayed at the show will be Al-Khalid and Al-Zarar tanks, armored personnel carriers, tank-crossing bridges, missiles and communication systems developed indigenously.
