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| F-16s: Pentagon approves potential sale of $450 million worth of equipment |
The US Department of Defense has approved a potential contract worth $450 million for equipment and services to Pakistan for the maintenance of F-16 aircraft.
The principal contractor in this contract will be the American company Lockheed Martin.
In a statement released by the Ministry of Defense on Wednesday, it has been stated that a contract worth possibly $450 million has been approved for the maintenance of Pakistan's F-16 aircraft and related equipment and services.
According to the statement, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has provided the required certification in this regard, after which Congress has been notified today about this potential sale.
The statement said that the Government of Pakistan requested to maintain the maintenance and support of F-16 aircraft as in the past to support the F-16 fleet of Pakistan Air Force and other factors in this regard. Can be added.
It should be noted that in July 2019, the US Department of Defense announced a $12.5 million grant to Pakistan for the maintenance of F-16 fighter jets, and this process continued even before that.
The US-made F-16 aircraft are the most important part of Pakistan's air combat capability.
Pakistan has a total of 85 F-16 aircraft, of which 66 are older Block 15 aircraft and 19 are newer Block 52 aircraft. These planes are under the supervision of the American technical security team.
Engineering, technical and logistics services to be provided by the US government and Lockheed Martin under the latest potential contract are listed in the announcement.
According to the statement, this potential sale does not include adding any new capabilities, weapons, etc. to the aircraft.
"It will also help achieve our foreign policy and national security goals so that Pakistan maintains the ability to operate alongside US and coalition forces in counter-terrorism operations and potential future operations."
The statement added that the potential sale would help Pakistan continue to maintain its F-16 fleet, which would help maintain Pakistan's air-to-ground capability in counter-terrorism operations. will
"Pakistan will have no difficulty in adding these services and equipment to its forces and this potential sale will not change the basic mirror balance in the region."
History of US sale of F-16s to Pakistan
Pakistan has been buying various types of weapons and military equipment from the US, including warplanes, for its defense.
Pakistan has been using these weapons not only in the war against terrorism, but also relies on them to protect its eastern border.
The program began in 1981 when the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan. The United States was in favor of selling F-16 aircraft to Pakistan to be used against Soviet Union and Afghan aircraft.
Soviet Union and Afghan planes used to cross the border and target Mujahideen training camps. Between 1986 and 1990, Pakistani F-16 jets shot down at least 10 Afghan and Russian aircraft, helicopters and transport aircraft.
In 1990, the United States refused to give 28 F-16 aircraft to Pakistan for which Pakistan had paid $658 million. Although the US eventually returned the money, Islamabad began to view the US as a reliable ally with suspicion and reservations arose.
However, after 9/11, the US agreed to give Pakistan 18 state-of-the-art Block 52F-16 aircraft at a cost of around $1.4 billion.
It also included targeting pods and electronic warfare fire pods. Pakistan's 52 old-model F-16 aircraft were also given upgrade kits and after receiving these equipments, the F-16 aircraft were upgraded to Block 52-type aircraft.
In 2016, Pakistan's request for financial assistance to buy more F-16 aircraft from the US was rejected by the US Congress.
John Kirby, the spokesman of the US State Department at that time, said that 'due to the opposition of the Congress, we have informed Pakistan that they will have to use their national funds to buy these planes.'
It should be noted that the Pakistan Air Force was not fully activated during the Kargil war. However, during the Indian Air Force's surgical strike in Balakot in 2019, the Pakistan Air Force shot down an Indian MiG aircraft, but till date it is doubtful that the F-16 was used in this operation.
Pakistan denies while India claims that Pakistan used US-made F-16 aircraft in this operation.
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