Pakistan asks to buy 70 F-16

a lot of Paks were saying they were no more interest in
F-16 but old loves die hard ?

http://www.pakobserver.net/200409/15/view/?page=1&id=12

Request sent to United States

Pak desires to purchase 70 F-16s: Kaleem

John Thakur Das

Karachi—Pakistan has sent a letter of request to the United States for the purchase of 70 F-16 high tech fighter aircrafts, disclosed Pakistan Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat here Tuesday saying that the request will be processed in the US State Department and forwarded to Pentagon for final approval.

Addressing a media conference at the defence exhibition ‘IDEAS 2004’ the air chief said it was unfortunate that the delivery of 110 F-16s ordered two decades ago met with political hurdles. Pakistan is badly in need of high tech aircraft to modernize its air force. This time he was confident that the United States will concede to the request by Pakistan. He indicated that delivery of the aircraft was possible after the November US presidential elections.

Air Chief Marshal said, Pakistan is also considering to purchase high tech fighters from Sweden and F10 from China but “we are still working on selection formalities”. But whichever plane is selected Pakistan will make sure that it will meet high tech requirements.

He pointed out that according to American interests they have decided to support Pakistan economically but not militarily. “Their policy can only change when they want it and nothing can be done from our side”, he said. Now the Americans have understood the real situation and are expected to deliver F-16s to Pakistan.
:confused:

When asked whether Pakistan is safe from outside threats, the PAF chief said “nobody can guarantee that a country is safe from outside dangers but I am sure the Pakistan is capable to defend itself.”

Talking about the defence exhibition he said, “I am satisfied with the progress as 160 stalls have provided the much needed exposure to the products both local and foreign for the benefit of sellers and buyers.”

“Pakistan Air Force has a role to play in achieving self-reliance, indigenisation and modernisation of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex which has helped us in reducing the defence budget,” he pointed out. Their biggest achievement was the production of 400 Mashaks including super Mashaks enabling exports to Oman, Syria and most recently Saudi Arabia with local consumption by Pakistan army and PAF. The production of Karakurram-8 in 1994 has picked up exports to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Egypt. PAF’s latest venture is the production of JF17 with the collaboration of China and the first prototype flew last September while two of them are under manufacture. By December 2006 16 planes will be ready, 8 for Pakistan and 8 for Chinese Air force.

He said the deal with Royal Saudi Air Force has yielded US$ 34 million including 3 years of logistics with instructor pilots and other facilities.

Apart from catering to business for related and affiliated companies, the PAF head said “we are trying to make or repair major components ourselves mainly due to all-out support by the government. “We are trying to make a package for people in specialised fields so that they can stay with us for a longer period of time. This requires flexibility in employment,” he said. “The PAF is trying to wash out allegations that they do not off-load enough work to the private industry. The problem is that aviation industry is capital intensive where quality requirements are extreme, and the local private industry does not have that kind of capacity. In view of increasing importance of electronics the air force is now mostly depending on foreign companies for intricate assignments, he explained.