Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Three F-16 planes arrive in Pakistan

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad,Oct 31, IRNA -- Three more F-16 fighter planes arrived in Pakistan from the United States on Saturday, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) said.

Pakistan had signed a contract with the US Government in 2005-06 for the acquisition of 18 F-16 C/D Block 52 aircraft, the PAF said.

“Under this arrangement, PAF would receive these aircraft from the US Government in staggered batches,” a PAF statement said.

In this connection, first batch of three similar aircraft arrived in Pakistan in May, 2010. The deliveries of the rest of the aircraft would be completed by December, 2010.

Second batch of 3 x F-16 C/D Block 52 high tech fighter aircraft arrived at PAF Base, Shahbaz in Jacobabad in southern Sindh province, the PAF statement said. Two more would arrive in Pakistan next week, it added.

Brigadier General Michael Nagata, Deputy Commander, Office of Defence Representative in Pakistan handed over the aircraft on behalf of the US Government to Air Marshal Mohammad Hasan, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) who accepted them on the behalf of the Government of Pakistan.

The F-16 C/D Block 52 aircraft is a high tech fighter aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art avionics suite and latest weapons with Night Precision Attack capability, the PAF said.

These aircraft are part of the bid by PAF to modernize and enhance its Air Defence capabilities.

Speaking on the occasion, Air Marshal Hasan said that PAF desires to maintain peace with honour in the region. However, if required it would use these aircraft along with all capabilities at its disposal to defend the country. A number of PAF and US officials attended the ceremony.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30047739