Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman on Thursday
warned that the violators of Pakistan's airspace will not be spared —
be it an enemy aircraft or a US drone.
Speaking at the
opening ceremony of Air Tech Conference and Techno Show in Islamabad,
the air chief said: "We will soon launch a new satellite [...] the
country will be able to send astronauts into space within next two
years."
We are also working on unmanned drones and a new
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will be manufactured in next 18 months, he
told the audiences.
Aman said that when the United
States drones had violated the Pakistani airspace, the air force had
told the US authorities that their drones would be knocked down if they
entered the country's airspace again.
"We had also
knocked down an Iranian drone in Pakistani territory," he said, adding
that any flying object tracked on radar while violating the national
borders, will not be able to go back.
Aman, however, asserted that a war with the US would not be in the favour of the country.
Talking
about the regional situation, he said the country cannot change its
neighbours. "India, China, Afghanistan, and Iran are our neighbours and
will remain."
What was done in Iraq and Lybia in the name
of democracy is open to all to ponder upon, he said and remarked that
no one can impose the democracy of its own will on anyone.
Our
brave nation has countered the menace of terrorism with valour, the air
chief said. "We have defeated extremism," he said, adding that the
country was still striving to establish durable peace. "Now the
terrorists come from Afghanistan to carry out terrorist activities."
Talking
about the professional capability of the force, he said that the
Pakistan Air Force was praised even by its rivals, including India.
"The
SAAB airplanes, destroyed in the Kamera attack, were repaired
domestically. Sweden had asked for a huge amount to repair the planes
but we managed to repair them with our limited resources and times," he
said.
He said that the JF 17 Thunder is the pride and
identity of the nation. We opted to manufacture the JF 17 Thunder when
we were denied provision of F-16, he said, adding that the JF 17 Thunder
is better than F-16 in four disciplines.
We are
manufacturing weapons after the US denied us to provide the same as
everything is possible with belief and determination, he said.
Several
European countries collectedly manufactured a Euro Fighter but we alone
are going to manufacture a fifth-generation fighter plane under the
project "Azam", Aman maintained. The civilians are comprising 60 per
cent of the workforce in the project, he further said, adding that "it
will take five years to initiate the production of fifth-generation
aircraft".
He was optimistic that with the technical support of China, our aircraft manufacturing industry will flourish.
The
air chief made it clear that the country has no ambitions beyond its
borders and warned that none should try to interfere in Pakistan. "We
will protect the sovereignty of the country at any cost," he vowed.
By
2020, the Pakistan Airforce will not only be self-sufficient in the
production of its required weapons but will also be ready to sell out
the weapons.
