Pakistan Airforce
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Thrifty at 50: How the Pakistan Air Force keeps ageing Mirages flying
Even planes that had suffered accidents such as fires breaking out have been patched back togetherAFP
The sprawling complex at Kamra, west of Islamabad, reverberates at the thundering take-off of a Mirage Rose-1, the latest ageing fighter jet to have been gutted and reassembled by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
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.
Technicians work on a Mirage aircraft during a full overhaul by the PAF. ā AFP
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 ā but far more high-tech and lethal than ā the improvised methods used to keep classic American cars running on the streets of Havana.
Engineer Group Captain Faruq Ahmad inspects a Mirage aircraft during a full overhaul by the PAF. ā AFP
āWe have achieved such a capability that our experts can integrate any latest system with the ageing Mirages,ā 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 the 1971 war ā one of the shortest conflicts in history, lasting just 13 days and leading to the creation of Bangladesh.
But 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.
