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| Afghanistan-Pak-India |
| Pakistan to buy 26 F-16s from Holland, Belgium |
| 2005-11-24 |
| IslamabadâAlthough Pakistan has kept on hold the much awaited F-16 deal with USA in order to divert resources to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of earth-quake areas, a decision at the highest authority has been taken to acquire 26 F-16s from Holland and Belgium soon after the Congressional seal. The 26 F-16 A & B are part of the package of 76 fighters that was announced by President Bush on March 26 this year after US Secretary of State Ms Riceâs South Asian visit. The US Administration after announcing the sale of F-16s to Pakistan notified its decision to Congress which will approve the deal. The 26 F-16s were to be sold to Pakistan by Holland and Belgium after the US Congress allows third country sale of these planes. Top official sources told Pakistan Observer that while the deal with US for F-16 is on hold, 26 F-16s will be available to Pakistan Airforce in a matter of months. Officials said that Pakistan has also received a firm commitment from the US Administration that the remaining F-16s will be available to PAF whenever the country decides to revive the deal. Holland and Belgium under their force reduction have put on sale their surplus F-16s and have agreed to sell them to Pakistan at the probable price tag of about 10 million US $ per piece. Sources said that Belgium could release some surplus F-16A/B to the PAF, most probably airframes with 2,000-3,000 hours of service left in them and without the MLU (Mid Life Update) features. The only real PAF modification would be to the radio and other systems for compatibility with PAF C3 (Command, Control, Communication) systems. Regardless, the provision of such F-16s would improve the PAFâs capability substantially, even a force of 26 surplus F-16A/B would make a notable difference to the PAFâs capability. The price of surplus F-16A/B is likely to be in the reign of $10 million to $15 million per unit. This makes it on par with the FC-1/JF-17 in price, and would remain superior at field performance. If no political strings attached used F-16A/B, is the best option. Logistically it would be feasible to incorporate the type, as Pakistan could easily train enough crews to accommodate a larger F-16A/B force. With upgrades, this option would make a lot of sense, especially if the upgrades could be carried out in Pakistan by PAC Kamra. The additional F-16s would also allow the PAF to phase out a large number of aircraft such the F-7P and concentrate its force to become smaller, leaner, and meaner. While it is not clear what will be the breakdown of 26 F-16s between Belgium and Holland, the Belgium F-16s are believed to be equipped with BVR capabilities. PAF sources say that surplus F-16 A/B from Holland and Belgium have been upgraded but it is still not clear if they have gone through MLU (Mid-life Upgradation). Some of the Hollandâs F-16s have certainly gone through MLU but again it is not clear if these are available for sale to Pakistan. Once the US Congress clears the sale PAF will sign a bilateral agreement with the two countries for these fighters for sale as well as the logistic support including the supply of spares. PAF has been very frustrated for not having been able to induct front-line fighter for last 15 years. It operates a fleet of 32 F-16s as a mainstay for air defence. The Force had taken a sigh of relief after the US decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan. But President Musharrafâs decision to postpone the acquisition came as a rude shock. Sources close to President however claim that the President had taken the decision with a heavy heart. And this is the reason that President will be pushing the acquisition of 26 F-16s from Europe on a fast track. Even though CBMs with India are gaining pace with the opening of five points for the movement of Kashmiris, there is no let off in Indian belligerence towards Pakistan. Only last week on the 18 Nov, Indian Air Chief Air Marshal SP Tyagi said, in âspite of the confidence-building measures, Pakistan would remain a primary threat to India.â Delivering a lecture at the BC Joshi Memorial Pune University, Indian Air Chief said. âThough things have changed a great deal in the last three years between the two nations, the security dimension remains the same, terrorist infrastructure still exists in Pakistan and there is no reduction in cross-border terrorismâ. He went on to say that, âPakistan would remain a major threat and we cannot assume that the peace process is firmly entrenched. Terrorist threats and attacks continue to be regular phenomena indicating that the infrastructure for terrorism in Pakistan is still very activeâ. The very aggressive statement by the Indian Air Chief has definitely sent alarms in Pakistani security circles. The government of Pakistan also feels that Pakistanâs security concerns have not changed with the CBMs. Therefore there is a need to review Pakistanâs decision to withhold F-16 deal with USA. The Indian Air Chief during his lecture also announced that IAF is buying 80 helicopters and contemplating joint production of a 15 tonnes transport aircraft. Besides the IAF, is in the process of acquiring improved sensors that include AWACS, by 2007, five aerostats and air defence missiles. MiG21, MiG 27 and Jaguar have been upgraded while upgradation of Mirage was in pipeline. He said when India enhances its strategic boundaries, the role of IAF would grow and in such situation it must look to increase its strategic reach through flight refueler aircraft. The IAF has acquired six aerial refuelers and have immediate plans of acquiring six more. |
| Posted by:john |
| #6 No. Indian Ministry of Defence Babus have always distributed the contracts whenever possible. This pleases friendly governments and avoids over-reliance on any one country or vendor. So the IAF has Anglo-French Jaguars (coated with Russian radar absorbing paint, French Mirages, Russain Migs - (Mig 21, Mig 23, Mig 27 (soon to be upgraded with new avionics and Al-31 thrust vectoring engines used by the Flankers), Mig-29, Sukhoi 30 MKIs. The Russian aircraft have been modified with Indian radars and Israeli weapon targeting pods. The western aircraft to fire Russian missiles. A very bizarre mix. The IAF chief has resigned himself to further confusion. While the IAF originally asked for 200 Mirage 2000s, the MOD cut it down to 125 and demanded international tenders. Now they have the original 200 but the PM office wants to buy American aircraft - preferably the F-18 SH if the US allows export of the AESA radar and all the standoff ground attack weapons. Russia and India will reconstitute the Russian GLONASS nav sat system so a number of weapons may be modified to use GLONASS as well as GPS. |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-24 20:12 |
| #5 Not exactly a homogenous mix of aircraft/doctrine. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-11-24 19:53 |
| #4 Or 100 super hornets and 100 Mirage 2000-5s. Even EADS is in the mix now, trying to get their Eurofighter Typhoon added to the Indian RFP. |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-24 19:37 |
| #3 According to the author: there is no let off in Indian belligerence towards Pakistan This "belligerence" being Indian Air Chief Air Marshal SP Tyagi said "the security dimension remains the same, terrorist infrastructure still exists in Pakistan and there is no reduction in cross-border terrorism" What is it about Pakistanis that they refuse to connect the dots? Do they have some God given right to be terrorists? Perhaps they would not need the F-16s if they simply dismantled the terror camps. Their purchases of F-16s have loosened the purse strings of the Indian Finance Minister. It seems that instead of 125 fighters, the tender will be for 200 fighters, perhaps from two vendors- 100 F-18 Super Hornets and 100 Mig-35s (Mig 29 airframe with thrust vectoring engines, and Israeli/Indian/French avionics). |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-24 19:35 |
| #2 I am reminded of a Greg Brown song: It's a boom town Got another boom town It'll boom Just as long as the boom has room |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-11-24 19:23 |
| #1 Meanwhile, a 5 star hotel amid the quake survivors and the rubble 5-star hotel to be built in Muzaffarabad LAHORE: A five-star hotel is due to open in Muzaffarabad on March 31. âThe 200-room state of the art facility will be inaugurated on March 31 and it will be the first ever five-star hotel in Kashmir,â Jamil Khawar, the media advisor to the group building the hotel, told Daily Times on Wednesday. âWe want to put the smiles back on the faces of people of the area who are hard hit by the calamity and we hope that this effort would lead the way in reconstruction and rehabilitation of the quake-hit area,â said Khawar. Work on the project began about a year and a half ago. âWe are not looking at what we can earn from the project. Itâs our way of starting the reconstruction,â said Khawar. He did not say how much the project would cost. The hotel chain has four other hotels in Pakistan and another planned in Gwadar. mohammed rizwan |
| Posted by: john 2005-11-24 18:52 |