Catch me if you can ... Mohammad Imran holds a locally-made PACPad
computer tablet at his electronics store in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Inside a high-security air force complex that builds jet fighters and
weapons systems, Pakistan's military is working on the latest addition
to its sprawling commercial empire: a homegrown version of the iPad.
It's
a venture that bundles together Pakistani engineering and Chinese
hardware, and shines a light on the military's controversial foothold in
the consumer market. Supporters say it will boost the economy as well
as a troubled nation's self-esteem.
It all comes together at an
air force base in Kamra in northern Pakistan, where avionics engineers -
when they're not working on defense projects - assemble the PACPAD 1.
"The
original is the iPad, the copy is the PACPAD," said Mohammad Imran, who
stocks the product at his small computer and mobile phone shop in a
mall in Rawalpindi, a city not far from Kamra and the home of the
Pakistani army.
The device runs on Android 2.3, an operating
system made by Google and given away for free. At around $US200, it's
less than half the price of Apple or Samsung devices and cheaper than
other low-end Chinese tablets on the market, with the bonus of a local,
one-year guarantee. The PAC in the name stands for the Pakistan
Aeronautical Complex, where it is made. The PAC also makes an e-reader
and small laptop.
Such endeavors are still at the pilot stage and
represent just a sliver of the military's business portfolio, which
encompasses massive land holdings, flour and sugar mills, hotels, travel
agents, even a brand of breakfast cereal.
The military is
powerful, its businesses are rarely subject to civilian scrutiny, and it
has staged three coups since Pakistan became a state in 1947. Many
Pakistanis find its economic activities corrupting and say it should
focus on entirely on defence.
"I just can't figure it out," said
Jehan Ara, head of Pakistan's Software Houses Association, said of the
PACPAD. "Even if they could sell a billion units, I can't see the point.
The air force is supposed to be protecting the air space and borders of
the country."
Supporters say the foray into information
technology is a boost to national pride for a country vastly
overshadowed by archrival India in the high-tech field. Tech websites in
the country have shown curiosity or cautious enthusiasm, but say it's
too early to predict how the device will perform.
Sceptics claim
it's a vanity project that will never see mass production. Only a few
hundred of each products has been made so far, though a new batch will
be completed in the next three months.
"The defence industry is
trying to justify its presence by doing more than just produce weapons,"
said Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc, a critical study of
military businesses. "Some smart aleck must have thought we can make
some money here."
PAC's website at http://www.cpmc.pk says the
goal is "strengthening the national economy through commercialisation"
and lauds the collaboration with China - something that likely resonates
among nationalists.
China is regarded as a firm ally by
Pakistan's security establishment, whereas the US., despite pouring
billions of dollars in aid into the country, is seen as fickle and
increasingly as an enemy.
These perceptions have heightened as
the US intensifies drone attacks on militants based in the Pakistani
borderlands. But the military is also a target of those militants. In
2007 the base at Kamra, home to 12,000 workers and their families, nine
people died when a cyclist blew himself up at the entrance.
PAC
officials suggested the program that produces the PACPAD was modeled in
part on the Chinese military's entry into commercial industry, which
lasted two decades until it was ordered to cut back lest it become
corrupted and lose sight of its core mission.
The tablet and
other devices are made in a low-slung facility, daubed in camouflage
paint, near, a factory that produces J-17 Thunder fighter jets with
Chinese help.
"It's about using spare capacity. There are 24
hours in a day, do we waste them or use them to make something?" said
Sohail Kalim, PAC's sales director. "The profits go to the welfare of
the people here. There are lots of auditors. They don't let us do any
hanky-panky here."
PAC builds the PACPAD with a company called
Innavtek in a Hong Kong-registered partnership that also builds
high-tech parts for the warplanes. But basic questions go unanswered.
Maqsood Arshad, a retired air force officer who is one of the directors,
couldn't say how much money had been invested, how many units the
venture hoped to sell and what the profit from each sale was likely to
be.
The market for low-cost Android tablets is expanding quickly
around the world, with factories in China filling most of the demand.
Last year, an Indian company produced the "Aakash" tablet, priced at
$US50, and sold largely to schoolchildren and students.
Arshad
said a second-generation PACPAD would be launched in the next three
months, able to connect to the Internet via mobile networks and other
improved features. He said the Kamra facility could produce up to 1,000
devices a day.
During a brief test, The tablet with its 7-inch
screen appeared to run well and the screen responsiveness was sharp. "It
seems good, but operationwise I have to look into it," said Mohammad
Akmal, who had come to the store in Rawalpindi to check the product out.
"Within a month or so, we will know."
