PAF Exercises in Pakistan
- Thread starter ghazi52
- Start date
ghazi52
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2007
- Messages
- 101,806
- Reaction score
- 106
- Country
- Location
Pakistan Air Force and United States Air Force to hold major joint air warfare exercises ‘Falcon Talon 2022-1’ next week at Mushaf Air Force Base’s Airpower Centre of Excellence (ACE) in Sargodha, Pakistan.
F-16s from PAF and USAF to participate.
F-16s from PAF and USAF to participate.
Ali_Baba
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- May 27, 2018
- Messages
- 6,417
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
Wow - the first time in a long long long time that the USAF and PAF will do these exercises.
ghazi52
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2007
- Messages
- 101,806
- Reaction score
- 106
- Country
- Location
....
An F-16 from the Pakistan Air Force receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker during an Exercise Red Flag 10-4 mission July 21, 2010, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air forces of the U.S. and its allies.
..
Pakistan Air Force operates Il 78 "Midas" Tankers purchased from Ukraine. It is used for mid-air refuelling of PAF Mirage fleet and JF 17 (few units capable for aerial refuelling). However, the F-16s are incapable for aerial refuelling from the tanker.
If one is wondering why the PAF’s IL-78 tankers cannot be used to support the F-16s, it is because F-16 Block 15 and Block 52 of PAF utilize a different aerial refueling system than what the IL-78 is configured to use. The IL-78s refuel using the "hose-and-drogue" method, which is designed with a trailing hose with a receiver basket at its end, which connects to an external refuelling probe on the receiver.
The PAF’s Mirages and JF-17s refuel use the probe-and-drogue method. On the other hand, the F-16s require a "refuelling boom", which connects to a fuel receiver system in the fuselage.
The main benefit behind boom-refuelling is the higher rate of fuel transfer. However, only U.S. designs utilize this method, the rest of the world from the Western Europeans to the Chinese depend on probe-and-drogue, which is simpler to integrate onto receiver as well as tanker platforms.
When the PAF began pursuing an in-flight tanker, it was fully aware of the F-16’s specific needs. It was for this reason that the PAF had originally hoped to secure the Airbus A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) system for its fleet. The Airbus A310 MRTT was introduced in the early 2000s for the German and Canadian forces.
Unfortunately for the PAF, Airbus had pivoted away from A310 MRTT and instead began to exclusively push the A330 MRTT. It on the Airbus A330 airliner, the A330 MRTT is offered as a new-built solution. In other words, the airframe is built with in-flight refuelling and military airlift tasks from the onset. While a very capable platform, the A330 MRTT was a prohibitively expensive system for the PAF. Therefore, they never approached for any deal.
However, when the PAF F-16s are deployed overseas to participate in exercises, such as Red Flag and Anatolian Eagle, they require in-flight refuelling support from U.S. Air Force (USAF) KC-135 "Stratotanker".
© U.S. Navy Photo / Stephen Wolff
..................
An F-16 from the Pakistan Air Force receives fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker during an Exercise Red Flag 10-4 mission July 21, 2010, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air forces of the U.S. and its allies.
..
Pakistan Air Force operates Il 78 "Midas" Tankers purchased from Ukraine. It is used for mid-air refuelling of PAF Mirage fleet and JF 17 (few units capable for aerial refuelling). However, the F-16s are incapable for aerial refuelling from the tanker.
If one is wondering why the PAF’s IL-78 tankers cannot be used to support the F-16s, it is because F-16 Block 15 and Block 52 of PAF utilize a different aerial refueling system than what the IL-78 is configured to use. The IL-78s refuel using the "hose-and-drogue" method, which is designed with a trailing hose with a receiver basket at its end, which connects to an external refuelling probe on the receiver.
The PAF’s Mirages and JF-17s refuel use the probe-and-drogue method. On the other hand, the F-16s require a "refuelling boom", which connects to a fuel receiver system in the fuselage.
The main benefit behind boom-refuelling is the higher rate of fuel transfer. However, only U.S. designs utilize this method, the rest of the world from the Western Europeans to the Chinese depend on probe-and-drogue, which is simpler to integrate onto receiver as well as tanker platforms.
When the PAF began pursuing an in-flight tanker, it was fully aware of the F-16’s specific needs. It was for this reason that the PAF had originally hoped to secure the Airbus A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) system for its fleet. The Airbus A310 MRTT was introduced in the early 2000s for the German and Canadian forces.
Unfortunately for the PAF, Airbus had pivoted away from A310 MRTT and instead began to exclusively push the A330 MRTT. It on the Airbus A330 airliner, the A330 MRTT is offered as a new-built solution. In other words, the airframe is built with in-flight refuelling and military airlift tasks from the onset. While a very capable platform, the A330 MRTT was a prohibitively expensive system for the PAF. Therefore, they never approached for any deal.
However, when the PAF F-16s are deployed overseas to participate in exercises, such as Red Flag and Anatolian Eagle, they require in-flight refuelling support from U.S. Air Force (USAF) KC-135 "Stratotanker".
© U.S. Navy Photo / Stephen Wolff
..................
ghazi52
PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2007
- Messages
- 101,806
- Reaction score
- 106
- Country
- Location
.-.-.-
PLAAF / PAF Exercise Shaheen VIII, 2019
.-.-.-.-.-.-
PLAAF / PAF Exercise Shaheen VIII, 2019
.-.-.-.-.-.-
