THE Pakistani Fiz'ya bought the Vintage Mirage serise in the 1970's to combat the MiG-21 that was then the Mainstay of the IAF and was the most state of the art interceptor in the subcontinent.
The procurment of the Mirage was directly propotional to the Induction of MiG's in the IAF
The ROSE (Retrofit Of Strike Element) upgrade program was initiated by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in 1992 to upgrade the avionics of a number of its Dassault Mirage III and Mirage V combat aircraft. A contract for the upgrades was awarded to the French company SAGEM and took place in 3 stages; ROSE I, ROSE II and ROSE III. Some sources report a fourth stage, ROSE IV, was planned but was not completed.
ROSE I
Approximately 42 Dassault Mirage III aircraft of the PAF were modified to ROSE I standard. The cockpit was modernised with a new head-up display (HUD), "hands on throttle and stick" (HOTAS) controls and new multi-function displays (MFD). New navigation systems, including an inertial navigation system and GPS system, were also installed.
Defensive systems upgrades consisted of a new radar warning receiver (RWR), electronic counter-measures (ECM) suite and counter-measure dispensing system, dispensing decoy flares and chaff to confuse enemy missiles and radar.
The integration of a new Italian fire-control radar, the SELEX Galileo Grifo M3, gave Mirage III ROSE I fighters the ability to fire advanced beyond visual range (BVR) radar guided air-to-air missiles. PAF's standard short range air-to-air missile at the time, the AIM-9L Sidewinder, was integrated with the Grifo M3 radar.
The Grifo M3 was developed specifically to fit the Mirage III and has been in full operation on the Mirage III since 2001. It has a power consumption of 200 W, operates in the X-band and is compatible with IR guided, semi-active and active radar guided missiles. The circular antenna has a diameter of 47 cm.
The radar has over 30 different operational air-to-air/air-to-surface mission and navigation modes. Air to air modes include Single/Dual Target Track and Track While Scan. Air to surface modes include Real Beam Map, Doppler Beam Sharpening, Sea Low/High, Ground Moving Target Indicator, Ground/Sea Moving Target Track. Other optional modes include Raid Assessment, Non Cooperative Target Identification, SAR (synthetic aperture radar) and Precision Velocity Update.
Low, medium and high pulse repetition frequencies reduce effects of ground clutter. Digital adaptive pulse compression technology, dual channel receiver, scanning coverage +/-60 degrees in both azimuth and elevation, air cooling, weighs less than 91 kg, MTBF (flight guaranteed) over 220 hours. Extensive ECCM (electronic counter-counter-measures) provisions and built in test equipment (BITE). IFF interrogators can also be integrated.
ROSE II
ROSE II was the same as ROSE I, except the Grifo M3 radar was replaced with a new SAGEM Forward-Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) system. This gave ROSE II fighters the capability to fly safely in the dark at very low level to avoid radar, making them very effective ground strike aircraft during night-time operations - "night strike fighters".
The French air force supplied a total of 40 fully overhauled Mirage V, 34 single and 6 dual seat aircraft. Of the 40, 20 were upgraded to ROSE II standard. Their engines were overhauled for a four year and 300 hour minimum life span. This package included installation of chaff and flare dispenser, radar warning receiver and GPS navigation systems as well as all required ground support, LRU (line replaceable units) and alternate mission equipment
ROSE III
Of the PAF's Mirage fleet, 16 were upgraded to ROSE III. A follow-up to ROSE II, this upgrade gives an improved night-time precision strike capability to the Mirage with the addition of a new SAGEM navigation/attack avionics suite. A new PAF squadron was raised on 19 April 2007, No.27 Tactical Attack "Zarrar" Squadron, to be equipped with the Mirage ROSE III aircraft. The Zarrars are a night-strike specialist squadron
ROSE IV
This phase of the program would have integrated the French MBDA MICA advanced medium/short range air-to-air missiles with the Grifo M3 radars fitted to the Mirage ROSE 1 aircraft. At the time, the PAF did not have any beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles, such as the MBDA MICA, and very few aircraft that were capable of firing them. Although the ROSE IV upgrade would have greatly improved the beyond visual range combat capabilities of the PAF in opposing enemy aircraft, no Mirage fighters were upgraded to ROSE IV standard. Possible reasons for this may have been preferring to spend limited financial resources on acquiring newer, more advanced and more capable aircraft such as the JF-17 and J-10.
In-flight Refuelling
The PAF is currently installing in-flight refuelling probes to 30 of its Mirage III ROSE aircraft, stating that it is a pilot programme for the induction of aerial refuelling capability into the PAF. Mainly being used to train aircrews in the process of in-flight refuelling, this capability also gives the Mirage fighters significantly greater range and loitering time, which is limited compared to modern aircraft of similar size due to the older, less efficient turbojet engines of the Mirage III/V. Some have speculated that addition of in-flight refuelling capability may have been a 5th stage of the ROSE programme, ROSE V.
All in all the PAF operate 181 Mirages
121 Mirage III's
60 Mirage V
Mirage III Fleet Consist of the Following
Mirage IIIEP-63 (Orginal variant made for Pakistan )
Mirage-IIIO-43 ( Australian versions bought in the 1980's)
Mirage-IIIR/PR ( Orginal versions made for pakistan )
role:-Ground strike, ground support
Interceptor
Reconnaissance
Mirage V fleet consist of (all orginal variants made for pakistan)
Mirage-5PA3-12
Mirage-5PA2-18
Mirage-5PA-28
Mirage-5VDPA2-2
Role:-Naval support
Ground strike
Training