US to give Pakistan unarmed drones' technology: Gates

atleast_a_bronze

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US to give Pakistan unarmed drones' technology: Gates

In a major shift in policy, the US said Thursday it would provide drone technology to Pakistan but only for unarmed aircraft - to
partly meet a demand this country has been making for over a year.

"Pakistan's demand for provision of drone technology has been accepted by the US and we are working together with Pakistan Army in this connection," visiting US Defence Secretary Ribert Gates told a private TV channel here.

"We are considering the provision of planes for intelligence surveillance and unmanned planes to Pakistan. Discussions are under way with the Pakistan military leadership on technical matters in this regard," he added.

Ever since the drone attacks in the restive North and South Waziristan agencies along the border with Afghanistan began in August 2008, targeting the Taliban, Pakistan has been repeatedly demanding that these either stop or Islamabad be given the technology to build and operate the missile firing machines.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have on more than one occasion made the demand but until now the US has been steadfast in its refusal.

On Thursday too, Pakistani Defence Minister Mukhtar Ahmed made the demand during a meeting with Gates, who arrived here Thursday.

This year alone has seen eight missile strikes by US spy planes. More than 700 people have died in close to 80 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.

Mukhtar handed over Pakistan's military wish list to the US, demanding the latest weapons and helicopters to enable effective action against terrorists in the country's tribal areas.

Matters related to Pakistan-US defence relations, the war against terror, regional security, the situation arising out of US drone attacks, the strategic partnership and other matters of mutual interest were discussed during the meeting.

Speaking to Online news agency after the meeting, Mukhtar described it as "very constructive" and said he had told Gates to stop the discriminatory attitude towards Pakistan acquiring civil nuclear technology and that Pakistan should be treated as a strategic partner.

Mukhtar said he had apprised Gates of the negative impacts of the drone attacks in the North and South Waziristan agencies and demanded their immediate end.

According to sources, Gates said that Pakistan was taking serious steps in the war against terror and the US would fulfill Pakistan's defence needs for this effort.

He said Obama Administration is seriously considering Pakistan's demands and the matter of a strategic partnership would be reviewed.

Gates arrived here from New Delhi where he said Wednesday said that the terrorists operating in Af-Pak region could provoke a war on the sub-continent.
 
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Is this a suprise to anyone?This means China will also soon have the technology.
 

notinlove

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we don't know what they are offering yet .. could be anything ..but it sure isnt predator or reaper
 
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it is a carrot that is being offered, it may never come to fruition with the way pakistan has been acting up.
 

notinlove

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maybe they will give them a 1000 baht helicopter that you buy in thailand :D
 

bengalraider

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Is this a suprise to anyone?This means China will also soon have the technology.
The Chinese already have the technology they are in the process of testing their global hawk clone, also i doubt the Americans shall be giving the Pakistanis anything they haven't already got from the Italians with the FALCO.
 

Daredevil

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Most likely they will be given outdated or a generation behind drone technology which may not be that overwhelming but yet decent enough. Definitely not Reaper/predator kind of technology. Most likely they might get RQ-7 shadow.

RQ-7 Shadow - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

neo29

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US going all out to please pakistan to continue offensive against militants. but surely a bad thing to give pakistan the drone experience. they surely will use that experience against us.
 

himanshugoswami

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instead of crying over this, we should be looking at developing our own expertise in UAV, since unmanned crafts are really the way ahead.

Also, i dont think drones are going to be that much of a game changer in conventional warfare if you have good ground based radars and SAMs.
 

proud_hindustani

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India is concerned over US's agreement to give drone technology to Pakistan. In return, India should eliminate F-16 and F-18 super hornet from his MMRCA Deal :D

Also we should cancel our nuclear deal with US. We already have France and Russia to lead our civilian nuclear programes :D
 

Sridhar

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US to supply 'Shadow' drones to Pakistan: officials
(AFP) – 6 hours ago
ISLAMABAD — The United States plans to provide Pakistan with a dozen unarmed drone aircraft that will help bolster its military as it takes on Taliban militants, US defence officials said.
Details of the drones emerged late Thursday during a visit to Pakistan by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was asked in an interview with Pakistani television if Washington would supply Islamabad with the unmanned aircraft.
"There are some tactical UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that we are considering, yes," Gates said.
Defence officials in his delegation afterward confirmed funds had been set aside to secure 12 Shadow aerial drones for Pakistan.
The Shadow drones, smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft, are about 11 feet (three metres) long and have a wing-span of 14-feet, with sensors and cameras feeding video images back to operators on the ground.
The Pakistani military already had some less sophisticated drones for surveillance but would need to heavily invest in training specialists to be able to take advantage of the new hardware, said US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The US employs armed drones for missile strikes against Al-Qaeda and Taliban figures in Pakistan, fuelling anti-American sentiment and drawing public condemnation from the government in Islamabad.
Pakistani officials have previously called for Washington to provide its military with armed drones.


AFP: US to supply 'Shadow' drones to Pakistan: officials
 

kuku

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Launch a few more intelligence satellites, one with a big laser that points above all the nuclear power plants in Pakistan, their parliament, their bridges etc.

Our government should make it clear to USA that you are supplying people that facilitate terrorist infiltration into our nation, these drones will help them get more terrorists through our border, it should be clear to USA if the equipment they supply Pakistan for free end up hurting us they (the USA) are sponsoring direct terrorism against our nation.

Charity should come with rules, as long as the USA can show that the only place these drones are being used is in the Afghanistan border, its none of our problem.
 

enlightened1

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I don't get it?? Why are they supplying Shadows when Pakistanis have already got Falcos? Well it's not much of a concern now..:p
 

..Azad

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Its just a surveillance craft but worst part is that there optical len will be made open to chicoms. Officially they are coming under Pakistan counterinsurgency capability fund, so unkil will closely monitor them.

We cant block off F16's; cant stop $$ inflow; now drones - Indian response to 26/11 _l_
 

..Azad

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Sir, i will not commit betise by overestimating Chinese technology. The fact is unkil and Israelis are the best when it comes to resolution/centimeters. Even Russaians are not a match to them. This kind of resolution can be effectively put to use for better sneak's into Kashmir.
 

anoop_mig25

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do we have and drone technolgy to match shadow being supplied to pakistan.on the other hand i thought mr gates was on trip to discuss security in south asia instead it is emerging that he is on sales of us defence technology
 

kuku

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do we have and drone technolgy to match shadow being supplied to pakistan.on the other hand i thought mr gates was on trip to discuss security in south asia instead it is emerging that he is on sales of us defence technology
We have the latest Israeli UAVs to collect intelligence and some that do a little more (carry a warhead), even a satellite up in space which watches everything happening through radar imaging making it immune to weather phenomenons.

As long as we have the money Pakistan will remain far behind in technology and numbers.

The question is with the military forces repeatedly citing patterns where Pakistani military aids the terrorists in crossing over the border, this technology or any technology that helps them collect intelligence through the sky, sea or on land can be used directly to help in their actions, and if they do it with free stuff from USA, its hurting our interests.
 

notinlove

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BANGALORE: India is not perturbed over the US supplying drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to Pakistan as long as they are used against
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Taliban militants, Chief of Air Staff PV Naik said on Friday.

"So long as the drones are used against Taliban militants, we have no problem," Naik told reporters here on the sidelines of an event.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief said he was not unduly concerned over such a development as it had no bearing on India.

US defence secretary Robert Gates said in Islamabad late on Thursday that the US planned to provide Pakistan with a dozen Shadow aerial drones to help its military to take on the Taliban militants.

The unarmed Shadow drones are three metres long with a wingspan of 14 feet. Their sensors and cameras feed images back to operators on the ground. They are smaller than the armed Predator and Reaper aircraft.

The US has been employing armed drones for missile strikes against al-Qaida and Taliban operatives in Pakistan, fuelling anti-American sentiment there and attracting public condemnation from Islamabad.

Naik, however, said the UAVs would be part of the country's aerospace defence capability in future.

"With the accent shift to unmanned flights and missiles, technological advances are sure to revolutionise military affairs in the future also," Naik said, delivering the fourth Air Chief Marshal LM Katre Memorial Lecture here.

Naik said the IAF foresaw greater specialisation, an increased dependence on unmanned vehicles (drones) and force enhancement by integration of space-enabled capabilities.

"We believe that synergising core competencies of each service and all organs of national power by developing effective interfaces is the way forward," Naik told about 300 serving and retired air warriors and aviation officials.

The lecture was organised by the Air Force Association of Karnataka branch with the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Aeronautical Society of India (Bangalore branch).

Katre, who was Chief of Air Staff in 1984-85, was also chairman of HAL during his tenure as air chief.

India not alarmed over US supplying drones to Pakistan: IAF chief - India - The Times of India
 
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The more I read about these gifts and aid over the years the more I think the only reason USA is fighting in Afghanistan is to have an excuse to arm pakistan.
 

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