The United States has approved $125 million worth of support for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.
The package includes logistic and technical support for the aircraft flown by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the approval comes days after Prime Minister Imran Khan met US President Donald Trump at the White House.
The potential sale will support US foreign policy and national security “by protecting US technology through the continued presence of US personnel that provide 24/7 end-use monitoring”, a statement by US State Department announcing the Pakistan approval read.
The Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has also delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale.
Islamabad had requested the continuation of technical support and logistic services to assist in the oversight of operations in support of the Pakistan Peace Drive advanced F-16 programme. According to the statement, the government of Pakistan had requested a continuation of technical support services; US government and contractor technical and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics support to assist in the oversight of operations in support of the Pakistan Peace Drive advanced F-16 programme.
In addition to the support for Pakistan, the US also approved $670 million worth of support for India’s C-17 transport plane fleet. Approval to support US-built aircraft for the two South Asian rivals was approved by the US State Department and announced simultaneously by DSCA.
Firdous says US announcement on logistics support for F-16s defeat of Indian propaganda
Separately, the DSCA said that India asked to buy spare parts and test equipment for their Boeing C-17 transport planes, and is seeking personnel training, among other things, “for an estimated cost of $670 million”. Both statements added that the proposed sales of equipment and support “will not alter the basic military balance in the region”.
In 2015, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that it has awarded Bell Helicopter a $581 million contract that includes the delivery of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to Pakistan. The original DSCA notification of Pakistan’s request included 1,000 AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-surface missiles for a precision-strike and enhanced-survivability aircraft that can operate at high altitudes. The helicopters, which were to be delivered in 2018, never arrived in the country as military aid was suspended. The helicopters are reportedly currently in storage in the US.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the US announcement for logistics and technical support for Pakistan’s F- 16 fighter jets was a defeat of the Indian propaganda after the Pulwama incident and triumph of Pakistan’s stance.
The special assistant, in a series of tweets, the said positive results of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the United States had started coming to the fore.
Dr Firdous expressed the confidence that the prime minister’s US visit would also prove to be a milestone for bolstering bilateral cooperation between the two countries, besides creating a positive environment in the region.
The entire world, she said, was endorsing the prime minister’s viewpoint regarding regional peace and security. She said Pakistan was heading in the right direction and achieving new milestones under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
