Business Forum - Lockheed gets $144 million deal for Pakistan F-16s

NF Reporter · 12-05-2006, 07:18 PM

Reuters - The U.S. Air Force is awarding Lockheed Martin Corp. a $144.1 million contract for materials that will be used in advanced F-16 fighter aircraft bound for Pakistan, the U.S. Defense Department said on Tuesday.

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waltky · 10-22-2007, 05:00 PM

More air support for Pakistan...

Pakistan Gets 30 Helicopters From U.S.
October 22, 2007 In order to fight terrorism and extend humanitarian missions in the region, the U.S. on Monday gave Pakistan, an important ally, over 30 military helicopters during a ceremony in a military camp in the country.

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Defense Secretary Kamran Rasool received the helicopters from U.S. Anne Patterson at an aviation base in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. In a statement, Patterson said Pakistan's army aviation personnel are an asset to the combined efforts to "fight extremism and bring peace and stability to the region." She added, "This event demonstrates the continued commitment of the United States to cooperate with Pakistan."

According to Rasool, the 26 new Bell-412 and four refurbished Cobra helicopters "will significantly enhance" the operational capabilities of the Pakistan military. Major General Syed Taqi Naseer Rizvi, director general of army aviation, said the air crafts "would go a long way in helping fortify the country's capability to effectively combat the menace of terrorism." The Bell-412 air crafts were initially leased by Pakistan under the $235-million project.

Patterson said, "The Pakistan army now takes ownership of these helicopters." Only this week, at least 130 people died in twin blasts in Karachi, just hours after former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrived and ended her 8-year self-imposed exile. The blasts were attributed pro-Taliban militants, who have threatened to send suicide bombers to kill Bhutto.

Pakistan Gets 30 Helicopters From U.S. | October 22, 2007 | AHN

waltky · 12-09-2007, 11:09 PM

Helping to fight terrorists...

US Official Defends Aid to Pakistan
07 December 2007 - A senior U.S. State Department official predicts elections in Pakistan scheduled for January 8 will not be perfect, but he says it will be an important step in the country's transition to democracy. At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill, the official defended U.S. aid to Pakistan, a key ally in the war on terror.

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Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher offered his prediction about upcoming parliamentary elections in Pakistan. "It is not going to be perfect," he said. Opposition groups in Pakistan believe the elections will not be fair, saying election authorities, the judiciary and local officials support those in President Musharraf's party.

But in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary Boucher remained optimistic. "If we keep working at it, and they keep working at it, and they do what they pledge, with President Musharaff and the political party leaders have pledged, they can have an election that really does reflect the choices made by the people of Pakistan.," he said.

The hearing was disrupted by a protester who took issue with Boucher's assessment. "How can the U.S. believe Musharraf will allow free and fair elections in Pakistan? Musharraf is a dictator!" The protester was escorted out of the room.

Boucher said he believes that President Musharraf will lift the state of emergency on December 16 as he has pledged, saying the Pakistani leader made good on his vow to remove his military uniform and serve as civilian president.

More VOA News - US Official Defends Aid to Pakistan

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Pakistan Claims Upper Hand Against Taliban
Dec. 8, 2007 - Pakistani Military Says It Is Sweeping Militants out of the Troubled Swat Valley

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Pakistani troops have mosty cleared pro-Taliban militants from the Swat Valley and continue to pursue the insurgents into the mountains that ring the scenic basin, the regional commander said today. Pakistani Maj. Gen. Nasser Janjua said they had drawn a bead on the militant's secretive leader, Maulana Fazlullah, and felt confident he would be captured or killed soon.

"Everywhere he goes, I chase him with artillery and helicopters," Janjua said. "We will sort him out." He and other commanders who took journalists on a helicopter tour of Swat today said the militants who swept into the picturesque valley -- long a popular tourist destination -- were a transnational mix of local pro-Taliban elements, Afghan, Uzbek, Chechen insurgents and even Arab al Qaeda fighters.

Fazlullah, a local cleric who preaches a rigid brand of Islam on his illegal radio station, was not the mastermind behind the group, Janjua said. "There are people behind him," he said. "They were his brain power." The militants had terrorized the local community in Swat, blowing up CD and video shops, bombing schools for girls and warning barbers of dire consequences if they trimmed beards.

The 15,000 Pakistani ground troops that swept into the valley, backed by Cobra helicopters and artillery, killed at least 290 militants while losing only five of their own men, Janjua said. It was impossible to verify the figures. A spokesman for Fazlullah had previously offered a far different account of the casualties, but in recent days the insurgent leadership has gone underground.

Janjua said he believed they were holed up in Piochar, an isolated mountain hamlet near Pakistan's tribal areas that was now being targeted by the army. Lt. Gen. Yasser, the corps commander for Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province, said the mission was far from over but that its early success showed that the Pakistan army had not lost focus in fighting the war on terror.

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waltky · 01-21-2008, 01:43 AM

Granny says is so's dey can shoot dem mean ol' Muslamic militants from the air...

Pak to get new F-16s
20 Jan 2008, The US has begun upgrading Pakistan's existing F-16 fighter fleet and placed orders for the latest version of the jets to be supplied to the country.

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The Pakistan Air Force's F-16s are being fitted with the latest avionics and other equipment. At the same time, the US administration has placed orders with Lockheed Martin for the latest version of the F-16 for Pakistan, said Foreign Office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq. Pakistan had ordered and paid for 28 F-16s in 1988 but these were never delivered as the US administration imposed sanctions on the country two years later for pursuing a nuclear weapons programme.

"The planes currently being used by the PAF are being fitted with the latest avionics and other equipment. This up-gradation will make them the most modern planes," Sadiq told The News . The PAF will soon start receiving the new F-16s that have been ordered by the Pentagon, he said. Sadiq did not give details about how many new F-16s would be supplied to Pakistan.

Pakistan had inducted 42 F-16 jets in the 1980s and about 35 of the jets are currently in service with the PAF. These are currently being upgraded to extend their life. As part of the upgrade, they will be equipped with improved radars, a helmet-mounted targeting system and electronic warfare management systems. Media reports have said that the US Defence Department has ordered 18 new F-16s for Pakistan, which will be delivered by 2010. Pakistan also has the option to order 18 more new jets.

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waltky · 07-16-2008, 11:19 AM

Guess we gonna give `em some more money so they can buy more F-16's from us...

US to triple aid to Pakistan
Wednesday 16th July, 2008 : US non-military aid to Pakistan could be tripled to $7.5 billion over five years if the US Congress clears a bill.

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Joseph Robinette Biden, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, introduced the bill on Tuesday, proposing US$1.5 billion annually for five years for developmental activities like building schools, roads and health clinics. The bill, if passed, will also advocate an additional $7.5 billion over the subsequent five years.

Biden said the bill was meant to demonstrate that the US was not a fair-weather ally but an all-weather friend of Pakistan. At the same time, the bill will put conditions on future military aid to ensure Pakistani military forces don’t interfere with the political or judicial process of Pakistan.

The bill will also state Pakistan must make concerted efforts to prevent terrorists from operating inside the country, and to prevent the Taliban from using its territory. The military aid conditions incorporate long-standing US demands for increased Pakistani cooperation against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

US to triple aid to Pakistan

waltky · 07-24-2008, 01:38 AM

Givin' `em some money so they can buy our fighters...

US To Shift $226M on Pakistan Money
Thursday, Jul. 24, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — The State Department wants to use about two-thirds of its proposed military equipment aid for Pakistan's anti-terrorism programs to help the key U.S. ally upgrade its aging fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter planes.

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The planes traditionally have not been used in anti-terrorism operations, and Pakistan sees the planes as a chit in its arms race against rival India. Congress must approve the switch, which was requested days before Pakistan's new prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, is due to meet President Bush at the White House. The Bush administration is feeling its way in its dealings with Pakistan's new leaders, who are friendly to the U.S. but far less closely allied than the formerly supreme leader, President Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf retains his post but with less authority. The prime minister's government has struck proposed partnerships with tribal leaders in the volatile terror-breeding ground along the Afghan border that make U.S. officials nervous.

The request to Congress late last week would allow the key U.S. ally to purchase equipment to upgrade existing planes so that they have similar capabilities to equipment the Bush administration is already selling to Pakistan. The $226 million would come from an allotment already approved for other Pakistan anti-terror operations. The previous request would have upgraded P3-C aircraft, which often are used in surveillance operations, and modernize AH-IF Cobra helicopters. The helicopter work still would be done using different funding, a State Department official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions with Congress are still preliminary. Switching the money to fix up F-16s would represent a change in the purpose for more than two-thirds of the $300 million that Pakistan will receive this year in U.S. military underwriting for Pakistan's equipment and training. Congress has required that the training and equipment money be spent for law enforcement or to fight terrorism.

F-16s are something of a badge of honor for Pakistan, and a sore point in the history of the U.S. relations with the Muslim nation. The Bush administration approved the sale of 18 new jets last year. The package included an option for Pakistan to order more jets and to get used aircraft refurbished. Pakistan signed a deal with Washington to buy the F-16s in the late 1980s, but the agreement was scrapped in the 1990s when the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Islamabad over its nuclear weapons program. Although Washington lifted the sanctions because of Islamabad's support for the U.S. war on terror, the sale of the F-16s had remained on hold and some lawmakers have continued to criticize the deal, arguing the planes are more likely to be used in a war with India than against terrorists.

U.S. assistance and other payments to Pakistan have totaled $9.6 billion in the six budget years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, according to the State Department. The largest payout each year is for what the Bush administration calls "reimbursements" for Pakistan's help in fighting terrorism. Under that program, Pakistan submits claims — such as its costs for providing observations posts along the Afghan border or its costs for taking part in joint operations with the U.S. against al-Qaeda. The reimbursements amount to some $80 million a month or nearly $1 billion a year. On top of those payments, the U.S. also gives Pakistan direct aid for humanitarian programs, economic development, military needs and so on — well over $700 million in each of the last two years.

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waltky · 07-30-2008, 01:16 AM

Congress sayin' No...

US Congress acts to suspend bid to upgrade Pakistan fighter fleet
30 July 2008 WASHINGTON: The US Congress moved Tuesday to suspend a bid by President George W. Bush's administration to shift millions of dollars in aid to Pakistan from counter-terrorism programmes to upgrading Islamabad's F-16 fighter jets.

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"We have requested a hold on the administration's planned reprogramming pending additional information," said a joint statement by Democratic lawmakers Howard Berman and Nita Lowey, who head key panels in the House of Representatives. "We are concerned that the administration's proposal to use military assistance to pay for the F-16 upgrades will divert funds from more effective counterterrorism tools like helicopters, TOW missiles, and night-vision goggles," said Berman, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, and Lowey, chairwoman of the appropriations subcommittee on foreign programmes.

The White House said last week that it wanted to shift US$230 million in aid to Pakistan from counter-terrorism programmes to upgrading Pakistan's aging F-16 fighter jets. The move, it said, was aimed at easing fiscal pressures faced by the Pakistani government stemming partly from soaring food and energy costs. US lawmakers were reportedly angered by the move. They felt that Pakistan did not use its F-16s in support of the campaign against fighters in its remote tribal areas out of a fear that civilian casualties could fuel support for extremists.

US President George W. Bush held talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday focused on cooperation to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists and easing Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions. Gilani, whose new government has been facing intense US pressure to crack down on Pakistan-based militants, told reporters after the meeting that Pakistan was committed to fighting extremists. The package for the F-16 fighters would run about two-thirds of the US$300 million that Pakistan will get this year in US aid for military equipment and training, the Times said.

More Channelnewsasia.com

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Pakistani F-16 upgrade will not affect counterinsurgency funding, says US
29 July 2008 - The US State Department has denied that the financing of mid-life upgrades for Pakistan's F-16 fleet will divert funds away from counterinsurgency operations against the Taliban.

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Acting Deputy Spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos confirmed in a 24 July briefing that USD226 million-USD227 million of the USD300 million equipment and training budget earmarked for Pakistan in 2008 was destined for the F-16s. However, he said that this money "was already allocated for other updates on different airframes in Pakistan" and that the work would help Pakistan to "effectively [employ] these aircraft in support of ground operations against terrorist groups".

Explaining what the upgrade would involve, Gallegos said: "What we're looking at is advanced avionics and radar upgrades, and communications and targeting systems that will enable real-time communication with ground forces that will generate ground position data that can be used to direct guided munitions to a target."

The US Congress requires that the USD300 million be spent on counterterrorism and law enforcement, leading to questions about whether Pakistan was actually using its F-16s to launch airstrikes against terrorist targets, rather than simply as a counterweight against India.

Pakistani F-16 upgrade will not affect counterinsurgency funding, says US - Jane's Defence News