Thursday, May 26, 2005
Pak seeks as many as 75 new F-16 warplanes
Reuters
Washington, May 26, 2005
Pakistan has asked about buying as many as 75 new F-16C/D Falcon fighter aircraft since the Bush administration announced it would resume sales, said the head of the Pentagon agency handling the matter on Wednesday.
Pakistan also has asked about buying 11 used F-16s, said Air Force Lt Gen Jeffrey Kohler, head of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, which runs US government-to-government arms sales.
Many experts had expected Pakistan to seek only about two-dozen F-16s, said Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group, a Virginia-based aerospace consultancy.
The numbers cited by Kohler show Pakistan wants to make the F-16 a mainstay of its combat aircraft fleet, he said, terming this "very ambitious in terms of regional strategy and very costly."
The single-engine, multi-role F-16 is built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. The new purchases would flesh out a fleet of about 32 F-16s acquired before Congress cut off sales in 1990 over Pakistan's nuclear program.
The potential Pakistan orders could keep open the F-16 production line, which is scheduled to close in 2008. The line employs about 5,000 people in Fort Worth, Texas. A Lockheed spokesman, Joe Stout, declined to comment on the size of Pakistan's possible order.
Downsizing a Possibility
Kohler said Pakistan had requested prices for F-16 Block 50/52 aircraft, the most modern F-16s flown by the United States and the current production standard. Similar aircraft have been exported to Poland, Greece, Chile, Oman and Israel.
Only the United Arab Emirates flies a more advanced variant, Block 60, with improved radar, defences and range.
Asked about any Pakistani interest in the Block 60 model, Kohler said, "They did not ask for it and I don't think they could afford it."
Kohler held arms-sale talks with defence ministry officials in Pakistan and India last month.
"I think when we go back and talk to them about the cost of the new systems my guess is that they will downsize slightly the (request for) new and they may increase slightly the used," he said.
The Bush Administration announced on March 25 that it would resume sales of F-16s to Pakistan after a nearly 16-year break. The about-face was widely seen as a reward for Pakistan's support in the US-led global war on terrorism.
At the same time, the administration said it would let Boeing Co and Lockheed compete for a potential $9 billion market in India for as many as 126 combat aircraft.
Lockheed is pitching India the same F-16 Block 50/52 and Boeing is offering its dual-engine F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the most modern combat US aircraft currently in full-rate production.
The F-16C/D Block 50/52 sells for $40 million to $45 million each, depending on options. Boeing's Super Hornet is expected to go for $50 million to $55 million, based on the price of the US Navy's next production batch, Kohler said.
India has not yet asked about acquiring state-of-the-art F-16 Block 60 aircraft, he said.
He said India was seeking to co-produce or co-assemble domestically the majority of the aircraft it eventually buys. It also apparently had invited bids from Sweden, France and Russia, Kohler said.
For Pakistan, US government officials were still weighing the weapons systems, targeting pods, radars and electronic warfare equipment that would be offered as part of a package.
A deal could perhaps be notified to Congress towards the end of the summer, the first step in a process that could lead to deliveries three years after an agreement is signed, Kohler said.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.