The GIDS Shahpar is a family of
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by
Global Industrial Defence Solutions of Pakistan and used by the Pakistani military. It is currently in production following the completion of a test and qualification phase.
Development
According to an engineer of AERO (Advanced Engineering Research Organisation), one of the seven companies forming the GIDS consortium, the only parts of the Shahpar aircraft system not produced in Pakistan are the engine and tyres. The sensor suite, a multi-sensor turret designated "Zumr-1 (EP)", is built at an AERO facility near
Islamabad
Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...
. The design features a pusher engine with canard foreplanes in front of the wings.
The Shahpar is designed to autonomously take off and land on a runway or land with a parachute. Payloads are available for reconnaissance and day/night surveillance. Targets on the ground can be geo-referenced and geo-pointed by the avionics. The military standard hardware is built to Environmental Standard 810F. Ground equipment is capable of mission planning and simulation; mission management and control as well as debriefing of ground crew.
Operational history
The first fleet of Shahpars entered service with the
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...
and
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...
in 2013 along with the
Burraq UCAV. Each flight is made up of five aircraft, a communications station and a ground control station.
Variants
*Shahpar
*
Shahpar-II
*Shahpar-III
Specifications
See also
References
{{Reflist, 2
GIDS products
Airborne military robots
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Pakistan Army
Pakistan Air Force
Unmanned military aircraft of Pakistan