Pakistan is in line to receive one of the most modern versions of the F-16s, after years of being subject to an arms-sales ban that kept Washington from delivering fighters that Islamabad had bought. Click on Read More for the full story.
U.S. officials are cautious in discussing the exact arms package they plan to deliver to Pakistan, although the deal could be for about 55 new aircraft. The sale is largely a reward for Islamabad's support of U.S. military operations in the region.
One of the issues with which the U.S. is grappling involves Pakistan's desire to both upgrade 32 F-16s in its fleet and buy F-16 Block 50/52s with a sophisticated weapons package. But new aircraft will not be available until around 2008 or 2009, so a gap-filler package of used F-16s is being considered, says USAF Lt. Gen. Jeffrey B. Kohler, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The heart of the deal will be the new aircraft. At least one option is what Lockheed Martin calls the Advanced Block 50 configuration. This includes the APG-68(V)9 radar with a synthetic aperture mode, as well as a conformal fuel-tank capability. The aircraft will be capable of using an internal ALQ-211 electronic countermeasures jammer and an ECM pod, either the ALQ-131 or -134. Weapons carriage capabilities will include the AIM-120 Amraam and AIM-9 variants, including the AIM-9X.
Whether--and when--the latest variant of the AIM-9 will be made available to Pakistan is not clear. The aircraft also will be compatible with air-to-surface weapons such as the GBU-24, AGM-84 Harpoon and Joint Stand-Off Weapon. Again, the export release of individual weapons will be determined at a later date.
Any agreement for used F-16s between a third party and Pakistan likely would receive U.S. support. Such an arrangement has been discussed in the case of other potential buyers, with Belgium among those offering up some of its fleet. The Pentagon, in those cases, has said it would aid the arrangement through the provision of spares and potential upgrade kits.
The U.S. is in talks with Islamabad to fully define its fighter requirements, before going through the congressional notification process required for any deal. Until the plan is fully laid out, an expected mid-life upgrade of older F-16s also will not move forward.
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