INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kamra, Pakistan: The sprawling complex at Kamra, west of Islamabad, reverbates at the thundering take-off of a
Mirage Rose-1, the latest ageing fighter jet to have been gutted and reassembled by the Pakistani Air Force.Fifty years after Pakistan
bought its first Mirages, many planes in the venerable fleet are still being patched up, overhauled and upgraded for use in combat, years
after conventional wisdom dictates they should be grounded.That includes one of the first two planes originally purchased from France's
Dassault in 1967, which was in a hangar at Kamra after its record fifth overhaul when AFP visited recently.The techniques they have
developed are reminiscent of -- but far more high-tech and lethal than -- the improvised methods used to keep classic American cars running
on the streets of Havana. Technicians work on a Mirage aircraft during a full overhaul by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF)"We have achieved
such a capability that our experts can integrate any latest system with the ageing Mirages," says Air Commodore Salman M
Farooqi, deputy managing director of the Mirage Rebuild Factory (MRF) at the Kamra complex.Pakistan bought its first Mirages to diversify
its fleet, which in the late 1960s largely consisted of US-built planes: F-104 Starfighters, T-37 Tweety Birds and F-86 Sabres.The Mirage
became a popular choice, with the Air Force buying 17 different variants in later years, eventually owning the second-highest number of the
fighter jets after France.They performed bombing missions during Pakistan's failed war with India in 1971 -- one of the shortest conflicts
in history, lasting just 13 days and leading to the creation of Bangladesh. Mirage aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) prepares for a
first test runBut Mirages flew on, also carrying out reconnaissance missions in India, and intercepting and shooting down Soviet and Afghan
planes that violated Pakistani airspace during the Soviet war.Usually the jet has two or three life cycles, each spanning around 12 years
But overhauling them abroad was expensive for Pakistan, a developing country whose budget is already disproportionately tilted towards its
military and which has historically received billions in military assistance from countries such as the US.So, with the help of experts from
Dassault, the air force decided if you want something done for the right price, you've got to do it yourself.Makeover The Mirage Rebuild
Factory was established at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) in 1978, and in the years since has saved "billions" of dollars for
Pakistan, according to Group Captain Muhammad Farooq, in charge of one of the maintenance hangars -- though he said the exact figure was
difficult to pin down.The planes take some seven weeks to be overhauled and repainted, he said, adding that usually the MRF has the capacity
for more than a dozen planes a year
Its calendar for the next decade or so is already booked up.At least eight different Mirage variants, including the Mirage 5-EF, Mirage
III-DP and Mirage-III Rose-I, were in one of the maintenance hangers when AFP visited.Engineers and technicians were dismantling cockpit
instrument panels and landing gear while undertaking a "non-destructive inspection", essentially an X-ray to detect faults in the wings and
airframe.Dozens of engines awaiting overhaul were piled in one hangar
Even planes that had suffered accidents such as fires breaking out have been patched back together at the facility.Pakistan has also been
buying up discarded Mirages from other countries to bring through the facility, said retired Air Marshal Shahid Lateef. Pakistan Air Force
(PAF) at the Mirage Rebuild Factory (MRF) in Kamra, west of the capital Islamabad. The most important technological improvement, developed
with the help of South Africa, is the ability to integrate air-to-air refuelling, Farooqi said.The "identification of friend and foe" (IFF)
system, which detects when a Mirage has been locked on to by the system of another plane, was also a key development, he said.Grand damesBut
even with the improvements and cost-saving measures, the ageing planes are becoming more difficult to maintain."They have outlived their
lives after their overhauls (they) have become highly unreliable, we even met with lots of accidents," Lateef said.The best option to
replace them would be the Rafale, as neighbour and arch-rival India -- which has also flown and maintained Mirages for decades -- is doing,
signing a deal with Dassault in 2016.The price tag is too much for Pakistan, however, retired Air Commodore Tariq Yazdani said.Instead
Pakistan plans to replace them with the JF-17 Thunder aircraft that it co-developed and co-produced with China, the original
manufacturer.Even as it becomes more urgent to phase them out, Mirages' status as the grand dames of Pakistani military aviation cannot be
dismissed, Yazdani, who has logged 1,500 hours flying them, told AFP.It is a "very agile aircraft capable of penetrating deep into the
enemy's territory without being detected by radar, which makes its sole mission -- to drop bombs on the enemy's position -- quite easy," he
said."It is an old aircraft," said aviation writer Alan Warnes, author of two books on the Pakistani air force
"But Pakistani pilots have been flying this plane with the utmost accuracy and expertise.(This story has not been edited by staff and is
auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
