——————————————————————————–
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL113456.htm
Pakistan’s air chief says U.S. may sell it F-16s
14 Sep 2004 14:17:14 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Amir Zia
KARACHI, Sept 14 (Reuters) – The United States has given an indication it may sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, but Islamabad is looking at other options as well for the purchase of high technology aircraft, its air force chief said on Tuesday.
Pakistan has been unable to buy high technology aircraft for the last two decades because of sanctions, the chief of the Pakistan Air Force, Air Marshal Kaleem Sadat, told reporters.
The press briefing took place on the first day of an international defence exhibition that formally opened in Karachi under tight security.
Exhibitors and delegates from more than 50 nations, including the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France, are participating under a security blanket because of fears of terror attacks from al Qaeda and local Islamic militant supporters.
“The Western countries were denying us access to their markets and their products,” Sadat said. But after Pakistan joined the U.S.-led war on terror after the September 11, 2001 attacks, this attitude was changing, he added.
“Now there is a change in their attitude. They have indicated that they are ready to give us F-16s. The work (on such a sale) has stopped because of the (U.S.) elections.
“There is a possibility that we will get more F-16s,” he said. “This is not a rumour, it is from the American government.”
Sadat said the United States had been generous in giving billions of dollars in economic aid and writing off debt.
“But Pakistani public opinion is still against Americans because … they think the Americans want to keep them weak,” he said. He added that he had been urging Americans to change this perception.
Pakistan bought 40 F-16s in the early 1980s when the country was serving as a base for the U.S.-backed resistance against the former Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan.
But another order for the purchase of 70 F-16s in the late 1980s failed to materialise because the United States imposed sanctions on the country for its clandestine nuclear programme.
After almost a decade Pakistan got its money back, having paid for the planes in advance.
SANCTIONS HIT PAKISTAN AIR FORCE
Sadat said Pakistan’s air force had suffered because of the sanctions. The disparity between Pakistan’s and India’s air forces had widened as a result of Pakistan’s inability to buy frontline fighter aircraft, he said.
“You do not need mathematics to tell that.”
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947, and came close to a fourth conflict in 2002.
While the nuclear-armed neighbours have embarked on a tentative peace process, Pakistan complains of India’s growing superiority in the sphere of conventional weapons.
Besides F-16s, Pakistan has been looking to equip its air force with Swedish Grippen and Chinese F-10s, Sadat said.
Sadat explained that JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, co-produced by Pakistan and China, were expected to be inducted into the air force some time in 2006. “The JF-17 Thunder is aimed to replace Mirage 3 and 5, A-5 and F-7 aircrafts,” he said. He said the medium-technology aircraft matched the Mirage in performance, but its avionics and weapons were better.
Sign In
