U.S. provides two maritime patrol aircraft to Pakistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, May 1, IRNA -- The U.S. Navy has transferred two P-3C Orion aircraft to the Government of Pakistan to enhance the Pakistan Navy’s maritime patrol operations, the embassy said Saturday.
The aircraft was handed over to Pakistani officials from the navy at a ceremony in Jacksonville, Florida, yesterday, an embassy statement said.
The aircraft are the first of a total of eight P-3C aircraft the U.S. will provide to the Pakistan Navy by 2012, including one aircraft to be used for spare parts, it said.
During the last three years, U.S. civilian and security assistance to Pakistan has totaled more than $4 billion, the statement said.
Assistance has included support for medical aid, school refurbishment, bridge and well reconstruction, food distribution, agricultural and education projects, it added.
Specific security assistance includes 14 F-16 fighter aircraft, 10 Mi-17 helicopters, more than 450 vehicles for Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, hundreds of night vision goggles, day/night scopes, radios, and thousands of protective vests and first-aid items for Pakistan’s security forces.
The U.S. also provided training for more than 370 Pakistani military officers in a wide range of leadership and development programs covering topics such as counterterrorism, intelligence, logistics, medical, flight safety, and military law, the embassy said.
Pakistan Navy Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Shahid Iqbal; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Plans, Programs and Operations Brig. Gen. Thomas Masiello; and Director, Navy International Programs Office Rear Admiral Steve Voetsch attended the ceremony to mark the occasion.
End News / IRNA / News Code 1089534
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