OPERATION 'GERONIMO' & THE PAF

Pakistan Observer

With the latest PAF press briefing whose distorted version appeared
today on TV channels and in the electronic edition of various
newspapers including The Newshttp://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=
D15235,
PAF2s case has been totally messed up and it has been put on the back
foot unnecessarily. It was simply bad PR; an official press release
would have been far better, with no possibility of laymen2s
interpretation and distortion of facts by uninformed journalists about
matters technical. Like most of you, I have been following the matter
over the past few days and would like to offer the factual story as
far as is known, without trying to cover any mistakes or offering lame
excuses on behalf of what was, formerly, my parent service.

On the night of 2 May, four near-stealth/low observable MH-60
helicopters ingressed unobserved from Bagram to Abbotabad. (Some US
websites displaying animated action include two Chinooks, which, to my
mind does not make sense as it nullifies the rationale of the other
two low observable MH-60s, unless the Chinooks also had stealth
featues). The helicopter package was able to exploit the blind areas
inherent in radars over hilly/broken terrain, while their own low-
observable structure helped no less. (It is not true that PAF radars
were being given a rest to conserve their life, as has been reported
in The News.) It must, however, be noted that it is the PAF2s AEW
Erieyes that are not operated round-the-clock during peacetime, else
we would quickly wear them out.

A package of 6-7 support aircraft including EC-130E/H, MC-130, AC-130,
E-3 AWACS and, most ominously, a pair of fighters of unknown type
(possibly F-15C), were orbiting in FATA area. It was easy to
masquerade this package as the usual retinue of half a dozen
Predators, Reapers and Global Surveyors that have been flying in the
same area 6 with government approval and PAF clearance 6 over the last
several years. There was, therefore, no question of this support
package arousing any suspicion on this particular night.

As the operation got under way, no Pak Army unit was present in the
vicinity of the OBL compound. US assessment was that local Army units
in Abbotabad would be able to react effectively, not before one hour
at the earliest (to take orders and draw their weapons). It was also
surmised that armed soldiers at quarter guards, guard rooms, etc would
not leave their posts.

When the firing started, local commanders at Abbotabad rushed to the
scene and soon informed GHQ, who in turn got in touch with AHQ. The
latter immediately scrambled a pair of F-16s but by the time these got
to Abbotabad in about 15 minutes, the operation was over and the
helicopters had departed. Without any help from ground radar, the
F-16s did not know where to look, as they had no idea that the
incursion had been from the west. As a matter of fact, an intrusion
from the east was uppermost in their minds. The helicopters once again
flew low, through radar gaps and were not spotted either by ground
radar or the F-16s. The reality dawned too late that we do not have an
antidote to a stealth raiding package. USA carrying out such an attack
was the biggest surprise for the PAF as well as the Army.

In some ways, it was fortuitous that PAF F-16s did not pick up the
helicopters on their radars, or else the nearby patrolling US fighters
would have made short work of them with their long range missiles,
what with full communications and radar jamming support available to
them.

To say that it was a failure of the PAF to react potently is
completely incorrect and unfair. It was simply beyond its technical
means to handle fifth-generation warfare vs USA. If it is a failure,
it is at the national policy level, whereby US was compelled to
sideline its much-ballyhooed ally because of trust deficit.

Article Source: http://pakistan-observer.blogspot.com/2011/05/operation-ger=
onimo-paf.html