A collage of a JF-17 along with screengrabs of the 'smart weapon' test by the Pakistan Air Force; note the black box obscuring the weapon
Posted on 03/14/2019 4:28:29 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Media outlets across Pakistan on Tuesday reported the country's air force had successfully test-fired an indigenously-built 'smart weapon' from a JF-17 fighter.
Some Pakistani media outlets referred to the system as a 'missile' and others as a “extended-range smart weapon”. Several outlets also carried footage of the test of the 'smart weapon'. Interestingly, the video of the test, from the Pakistan Air Force, shows only hazy imagery of the weapon and effectively obscures it with a 'black box' before it impacts the ground.
The perceived secrecy surrounding the 'smart weapon' has aroused debate about its origins and whether the test was meant as a PR exercise amid tension with India.
The Pakistan Air Force announced on Tuesday the smart weapon “has provided JF-17 Thunder a very potent and assured day and night capability to engage variety of targets with pinpoint accuracy.” Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group, a website that covers the Pakistani military, observed that the decision to obscure footage of the smart weapon meant the “PAF did not want to disclose the design or characteristics of the new munition.” Such a motive would, however, raise questions about the need to share video footage in the first place.
In 2017, the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, which manufactures the JF-17, mentioned on its website about “the integration of standoff weapon with JF-17 Aircraft”, providing little additional information.
Pakistan is known to have developed the H2 and H4 'glide' bombs with South African assistance. Glide bombs have pop-out wings to travel longer distances than laser-guided bombs and typically use electro-optical guidance. Pakistan's The Dawn newspaper reported in 2003 that the H4 glide bomb had been inducted into service and claimed it had a range of up to 120km. These weapons have some similarities to the Israeli-origin SPICE munitions
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.in ...
A collage of a JF-17 along with screengrabs of the 'smart weapon' test by the Pakistan Air Force; note the black box obscuring the weapon
Because it’s a secret?
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