WASHINGTON: Lockheed Martin has secured a $42.3 million contract to
provide 10 upgrade kits for Pakistan’s F-16 A/B aircraft, under the
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
Despite troubled
relations with Washington after the American special forces’ 2 May raid
into Pakistan to kill Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, the Pentagon
continues to support the South Asian country’s air force, according to
flightglobal.com.
The upgrade kit deal follows a late July
announcement that specialist communications producer L-3 Communications
was awarded a contract to build two F-16C Block 52 aircrew training
devices for the Pakistan Air Force.
In late May, the US Defense
Security Cooperation Agency announced that Pakistan had requested a FMS
deal to acquire spare parts for a number of its aircraft, including the
Lockheed Martin C-130 transport, F-16 fighter and T-33 trainer, as well
as the Cessna T-37 trainer.
Earlier this year the Pakistani air
force inducted 17 new F-16 Block 52+ fighters into 5 Squadron - part of
an 18-aircraft deal signed in 2006.
Pakistan’s 34 F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft are also undergoing mid-life upgrades. Online
