Air Defense: October 23, 2003

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Pakistan, alarmed at India's purchase of Phalcon AWACS aircraft from Israel, is now considering purchasing China's FT-2000 ARM (anti-radiation missile) system. An ARM is a missile that homes in on a radar signal, or any other electronic broadcast that the missiles guidance system is programmed to go after. The FT-2000 is a unique system, which has just entered service in the last year or so. All other ARMs are carried on aircraft, and are used to destroy enemy air defense radars on the ground. The FT-2000 is the only ARM that is fired from the ground, to take out attacking enemy aircraft that are using radar to spot air and ground targets. The Chinese developed the FT-1000 (apparently using the missile, and other components, of the Russian S-100/SAM-10) to give them some protection against high tech U.S. aircraft and their long range, radar guided missiles, as well as American bombers that used radar for finding targets. Using the FT-2000 against an AWACS aircraft is a long shot, literally. The 1.3 ton FT-2000 missile has a max range of 100 kilometers, but both Phalcon and the U.S. AWACS have a range of 400 kilometers or more. And if India knows that Pakistan has the FT-2000, then they will make sure that their Phalcon aircraft stay at least a hundred kilometers from Pakistan occupied territory. 

 

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