Pakistan, US sign LoA for supply of F-16s

Islamabad, Oct 2: Pakistan and the United States have signed a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) that will set into motion the process involving supply of 44 F-16 aircraft to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

The LoA was signed in Islamabad on September 30, said a statement issued by the PAF spokesman Air Commodore Sarfaraz Ahmad.

The package includes the supply of 18 new F-16s, [26] used F-16s, upgradation of the present Fleet of F-16s, air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry and other support infrastructure, said the statement.

The purchase of 18 C and D versions of the F-16s will cost two billion dollars while the remaining amount is to be spent on buying 26 used jets and up-gradation of the existing fleet of the PAF's F-16s.

Subsequent to the signing of letter of acceptance, the supply of aircraft and weapons to Pakistan will take pace in due course of time, said the statement without mentioning the delivery schedule.

Meanwhile, 'The Dawn' newspaper reported on Monday that Pakistan and the US had finalised the F-16 deal after resolving their differences over airspace and technology swapping restrictions Washington had placed earlier.

The LoA signed in Islamabad on September 30 was the last date for final acceptance of the US offer of March 25, 2005, when the Bush administration had announced its decision to sell F-16 aircraft to Pakistan, said the paper quoting diplomatic sources.

Under the deal, even a day's delay could have caused an increase of more than 140 million dollar in the price, said a diplomatic source.

The source also pointed out to discripancies in the payment that Pakistan was required to make. All such differences, including payment installations, technical restrictions, have been resolved to a satisfactory level, he assured.

Asked to define the level of satisfaction, the source retorted, ''Both sides had to be accommodative before reaching an understanding.'' The Bush administration received congressional approval for selling 18 new F-16 jets to Pakistan. The deal also allows Pakistan to buy an additional 18 new or old F-16s.

In July, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency notified the Congress that the F-16s would come with 200 Sidewinder and 500 AIM-120C5 air-to-air missiles plus 800 general purpose 2,000 and 500-pound bombs.

UNI