Pak to get four more F-16s from US on June 28

{image-f-16 fighter jet23_19062008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Islamabad, June 19: Pakistan will receive four F-16 fighter jets on June 28 from the US, out of the total 28 jets which Washington agreed to supply to it in 2005. This will be the second lot of fighter jets which Pakistan will be receiving. Earlier, the US delivered two F-16 aircrafts to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). "With handing over of four more F-16 on June 28, it is hoped that the remaining aircrafts embargoed by the US would also be delivered soon," the Daily Times quoted sources as saying.

Pakistan defence sources said that the four jets were a part of a larger consignment of 28 F-16 aircraft, which the US agreed to sell Pakistan in the 1990s to strengthen its defences, in recognition of Pakistan's services in the conflict again the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s, reported the Daily Times. However, the delivery of 28 aircrafts was stopped amidst US allegations that Pakistan was pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme. The US agreed to provide the remaining jets after an agreement in 2005 increasing military co-operation between the two allies in the war on terror. The sources said that the A and B models of the jets have been delivered. The US first tried to sell them to other countries, but later on inducted the aircrafts into the US Air Force and the US Navy.

"But these aircrafts were used sparingly and not used in a regular manner as the US knew they belonged to Pakistan," the sources and added that PAF Chief Air Marshal Tanvir Mehmood Ahmad played a key role in getting the aircrafts delivered.

ANI