ASIA PACIFIC
Date Posted: 20-Oct-2009
Jane's Defence Weekly
Pakistan rolls out first F-16 Block 52
Eleanor Keymer Armed Forces Editor - London
Lockheed Martin has unveiled the first of 18 new Lockheed Martin F-16D aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), as the country looks to modernise its fleet of multirole fighter aircraft.
The Chief of the PAF, Air Chief Marshal Rao Quamar Suleman, accepted the F-16D Block 52 aircraft on behalf of the country at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility, Texas, on 13 October. Speaking at the ceremony, Suleman said the roll-out demonstrated that the programme was "on track".
The acquisition forms part of Pakistan's 'Peace Drive I' programme, and comprises 12 single-seat F-16C and six twin-seat F-16D aircraft. The first aircraft is scheduled for delivery to the air force in June 2010 with the remainder to follow by December 2010.
The F-16C/Ds will be equipped with ITT Avionics AN/ALQ-173 electronics systems obtained via the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. Eighteen Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper pods have also been purchased as part of a different FMS contract and are due to be delivered to the PAF in December 2010.
Islamabad originally ordered 71 F-16A/B fighters from the US in 1989. However, due to budgetary issues and concerns surrounding Pakistan's nuclear programme, 11 aircraft were eventually built but never delivered. Islamabad restarted negotiations for additional F-16s in March 2005, but talks were subsequently placed on hold in the wake of the December 2005 earthquake. Then, in 2006, the US agreed to supply the PAF with a further 14 F-16A/B aircraft, which were delivered between December 2005 and July 2008.
The latest order for the 18 F-16 aircraft forms part of a wider contract, which includes 46 Falcon Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) kits for the PAF's existing F-16 inventory and the delivery of 24 to 26 ex-US Air Force F-16A/B aircraft complete with MLU kits to be modified in Pakistan.