ISLAMABAD - During a meeting of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Defense Production last week, Chairman of the committee, Senator Lt. Gen. (R) Abdul Qayyum HI (M), said that Pakistan’s armed forces will continue to increase their combative capacity to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
Senator Abdul Qayyum appreciated the integral role Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) Kamra has played in protecting Pakistan from external threats. ------------------------------
The Senate’s Committee also announced objectives and goals for the PAC. The PAC was directed to:
1. Accord highest priority towards increasing the combative capacity of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) by fulfilling their requirements to thwart threats to Pakistan’s air space, borders, and sea frontiers. 2. Systematically decrease external dependence by undertaking innovative research and evolving a self-reliance strategy. 3. 4. Increase the commercialization of its defensive products through comprehensive marketing campaigns. By doing so, PAC will not only generate foreign revenue, but it would help to strengthen bilateral military ties with different countries. 5. 6. Adopt a realistic costing system to make its products more competitive in international markets. For this, it needs to eliminate surplus manpower and logistical channels to decrease the prices of its products. 7. Continue to provide maximum security to its defense production installations.
Taking into consideration the directions of the committee, it appears that the PAC has two tasks at its hand; first, to eliminate dependence on external assistance. Second, to increase the exports of defensive products to other countries.
Moreover, towards the end of the last year, PAC had signed an MoU with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
PAC and AVIC will manufacture commercial aircraft under the MoU. Other than this, PAC’s Project Azm is heading towards completion. Launched in 2017, Project Azm aims to add indigenously built Fifth Generation Stealth Fighter Jets in Pakistan’s military arsenal.
Both initiatives would help PAC to achieve the objectives laid down by the Senate’s Committee.