Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said on Saturday that its surveillance system was not jammed or switched off on the night of May 2, when US forces carried out an operation against Osama bin Laden. A spokesman said the radar system was in low position as they should be in 'peace' time.
The surveillance system was not switched off as US Navy Seals entered Pakistan's airspace. However, he did not have answer whether the country's air force was aware of the presence of US forces' helicopters in Pakistan. A senior PAF officer said the stealth features, similar to those used on advanced fighter jets and bombers help explain how two of the helicopters sped undetected through Pakistani air defences before reaching the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad.
He said the use of the especially equipped helicopters also underscores the extent to which American officials wanted to get to Bin Laden without tipping off Pakistani leaders. It has been reported that Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman accepted the responsibility of air surveillance failure, but insisted that the entry of American helicopters into the Pakistani air space was not detected because the radars deployed on the western borders were not active on May 2. Sources said there are several tradeoffs in building a stealth helicopter. The purpose is not only to reduce the cross-section visible to radar, but to cut down the noise the helicopter makes.