Hello and Salam to all,

My question is regarding PAF Aircrafts parking and storage on various PAF bases. I wonder if you guys can post pictures of PAF aircraft PENS and Hardened shelters.

How well protected the PAF birds are on PAF bases?

Considering JDAMS and other penetrating weapons adversaries normally have, how will these PENS (Bunkers) hold against an attack?

Any data about the strength of these PENS is much appreciated. I mean like thickness, length width and other design parameters.

What’s the strategy of storage of the ACs in case the existing PENS are bombed out?

Chinese AF on certain bases near India and Taiwan straits has made PENS inside mountains. I have already posted pictures here of these a while back. Does Pakistan have such PENS to protect its assets?

The pens are made up of Concrete. Since it is a very hard material. But the JDAMS even dont spare diamonds thus defence against those kind of weapons is really hard. It is better to avoid them.

I think that pens have a width of 40 feet. NOT more then that (for fighters only)

And yeah in war time, the fighters are splitted all over the base, one in one corner and other one in another. Thus it minimizes the damage caused by the first bombing run.

AOA,

I had been to Mushaf in 2003, where i climbed on such Aircraft pen ( to see the Parked F-16 from the top!!!!! )

Pakistan has made the walls in shape of "Y" along with the aircraft pens. such walls protects the aircraft from being strafed coz it blocks the bullets from the attacking aircrafts to reach inside the pen.

But v dont hav a proper protection against the bombs.

Even as far as i know, there is no such aircraft pen in the world that prevents the aircrafts from bombs.

Our pens are harder and thicker than the NATO Standard pens.eg Turkish are thinner than us.

Allah hafiz

Yes, the "Y" shaped deflectors are very prominent in the satelite imagery of any PAF airfield, however the hardened aircraft shelters (HAS) are a sort of last line of defence, the idea is to intercept the intruder over the horizon before they reach your V.Ps, with all the smart weapons now active the shelters in reality offer secondary protection.

does pakistan really have an "underground base" at sargodha/mushaf? not the ammo dump located a few miles south but for the actual aircraft

Thats what I was thinking. The Aircrafts can be parked and stored undergroud. That one effective way of saving them from JDAMS.

Some of the latest JDAMS have a delayed explosion setup where they explode after they have broken through concrete protection. That might be a problem.

This is the latest in Bunker Busting , the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)

I think the "Y" shape is for deflecting the blowback from the aircraft when it leaves the pen under its own power.

Aoa,

Israel has underground shelters for aircrafts in its bases specially at RAMAT-DAVID AFB.

In the Pakistani aircraft hangers there are outlets for the engine exhausts when the aircraft gives the power during the ground run.

Pakistan doesnot have any such base, or it has not made it public.

They have special paints to camoflauge, and radar + airdefence missiles. + CAP over airbases ...........aircraft are usually scattered to FOB's ( forward operational bases) at start of hostilities .........
Oh and the special stuff ..................( in a lighter vein......... )
They can bury aircraft in sand ( ala Saadam Hussein's Mig 29 in Iraq)
They have black agic and can destroy Indian aircraft with "choo mantar"....
They have better and more handsome pilots who destroy indians by "staring alone"
They also have the Harry Potter disappearing cloak !!

Mannnnnn Just look at the raw penetration power. Its about 6~10 feet of concrete and yet its penetrated. AC Pens are very vulnerable if enemy achieves air superiority.

There were rumours of underground storage and parking facility for AC in Balochistan. I wonder how true are they!

During hostilities with India in early nineties, long before Pakistan became a declared nuclear weapons state, U.S satelites picked up couple of F-16s at Samungli airbase Balochistan, armed with what the Americans refered to as the smoking gun, however as the satelites were focused on India/Pakistan, the Americans were of the view that the F-16s appeared out of the blue.
In any case EagleHannan, it's an open secret that some of our nuclear weapons are air-launched, free fall or guided, and it's only logic to preserve the delivery system(s) of these weapons in a safe and consealed manner!

Do we have any bunker busting bombs.
I heard some time back that we ordered some from USA.
does our enemy india has any kind of these bombs

I am sure with a little improvement, Pakistani produced "Hafar" system can be just as effective.

apart from manufacturing bunker busters..the pride of our deep penetration weopens will be the US BLU 109, it can penetrate 14 feet of reinforced concrete !!!

Yes Pakistan has ordered BLU-109s in large numbers.

Yes today we are developing a new and an improved version of the HAFR, known as HAFR II at AWC (Air Weapon Complex)

Details;

1)Target penetration bomb used to neutralize concrete targets like runways, bunkers etc.

2)The effect of destruction is obtained by high speed penetration and then upheaval of hard targets by exploding the warhead with minimum risk to the delivering aircraft.

3)The bomb can be released at high speeds and low altitude to avoid enemy defenses.

4)Upon delivery, the bomb decelerates to a very low speed to obtain the penetration angle and to increase the safety distance between the bomb and the releasing aircraft. Subsequently the firing of the rocket motor accelerates the bomb to a very high speed for penetration into the hard target.

Release envelope
450 < IAS < 600 Knots
Z > 200 feet

Consists of four main sub-assemblies:-
1)The Warhead: located at the front and weighs approximately 100 kg
2)The Sequencer Assembly: located immediately behind the warhead and controls the sequence of operations
3)The Parachute Section: attaches to the rear skirt of the booster by a jettisonable clamp ring and contains two drag chutes (deceleration and main)
4)The Rocket Motor: double base propellant, burns for 0.45 seconds and provides a thrust of 10 tons

(X)Can be carried on NATO standard suspension systems

Safety

1)No electrical ignition
2)Drag chutes are not locked during captive flight
3)The rocket motor does not fire if drag chutes are not deployed for sufficient time
4)The warhead fuze pyrotechnical train stays out of line before firing of rocket motor.

Operation
Stored in a special sealed container, allowing installation on the aircraft directly from the container without any pre-installation assembly or adjustment.

Retarded phase:
1)Deployment of the first drag chute
2)Ejection of the first drag chute and deployment of the main chute
3)Measurement of the acceleration/time conditions

Acceleration phase:
1)Ejection of the main chute and ignition of the rocket motor
2)Accelerates to 280 m/s in 0.45seconds
3)Impact and explosion after penetration

In case of emergency jettisoning, bomb drops completely inert.

Dimensions

Overall Length: 2491 mm
Length excluding the Front Fairing: 2414 mm
Maximum Body Diameter: 223 mm
Maximum Span: 430 mm
Approximate Overall Propelled Weight: 165 kg
Approximate Launch Weight: 200 kg

If the PAF haven't already got underground facilities for the storing of aircraft, fuel, weapons etc which i doubt, then they should seriously build underground facilities as a pen can only protect so much and is very easily identified andthen destroyed by a good guided bomb like a JDAM for example. I assure you no pen can protect an aircraft or anything else for that matter from a JDAM and it is vital that underground facilities are built. A very large bomb like a MOAB or repeated and saturated bombing can destroy an airbase with ease and the hardened shelters which protect the valuable aircraft.

Bunker buster bombs do pose a threat for example the SDB above and the diamond cuter (not entirely sure of its name i think it is this) that was used by the US to bomb up Taliban bunkers to very good affect in the Torah Borah region of Afghanistan. Bunker buster bombs can only reak havoc on bunkers if their where abouts are known which is a hard objective in it self as it is well hidden. If there is an underground bunker with vital aircraft and supplies it cannot be spotted via reconaissance and needs a lot of intelligence on the part of the enemy to locate it, the enemy may never be able to gather this intelligence and therefore never locate and destroy this valuable underground bunker.
The building of underground bunkers is absolutely instrumental if the PAF wish to reduce their losses early on in a war. The onset of such huge early losses could be disastrous and hamper the war effort and the defence of the nation!