F-16 Block 15MLU/50/52 Fighter

[Muradk]

i wouldnt read too much into this - either way we WIN. if this allocation is not used for F-16s, the heavens wont come down on us - we still get more Cobras, night-vision equipment and other CI stuff. US230m for counter-insurgency is a lot of money. we can get atleast another 40 upgraded Cobras.

Fatman If I am nor wrong all our cobras has night vision capabilitis. This I am Talking about 2001 onwards plus a few upgrads on them.

 

[JK!]

Chile have recently been acquiring ex dutch air force F16s and given quite a few European nations operate the aircraft what possible country could Pakistan source F16s from?

I had read on pakistanidefence that 40 from Belgium were considered at one point.[/QUOTE]

this is correct but those airframes were too old plus US was not willing to allow tranfer at that time.

Any others aside from the Belgians worth considering?

 

[fatman17]

Any others aside from the Belgians worth considering?

none as enough EDA stocks of de-commissioned F-16s are readily available directly from the USAF.

 

[fatman17]

Fatman If I am nor wrong all our cobras has night vision capabilitis. This I am Talking about 2001 onwards plus a few upgrads on them.

yes sir - u r 100% correct - even the Bell pilots have night vision equipment.

 

[Owais]

I had read on pakistanidefence that 40 from Belgium were considered at one point.

yes they were considered 2 years ago but that sale requires US approval and those airframes were not as good as these Ex PAF F-16s we are getting so there was no progress

none as enough EDA stocks of de-commissioned F-16s are readily available directly from the USAF.

I heard that there are only 14 more F-16s available from US but they are currently in use of USN who have refused to transfer these jets to Pakistan

 

[fatman17]

yes they were considered 2 years ago but that sale requires US approval and those airframes were not as good as these Ex PAF F-16s we are getting so there was no progress




I heard that there are only 14 more F-16s available from US but they are currently in use of USN who have refused to transfer these jets to Pakistan

correct! thats why as a alternate solution USAF has offered F-16C/D block 30/40 EDA a/c to PAF as compensation. it will take 2 years for this delivery of 14 a/c after the necessary upgrades in the US (Hill AFB-Utah)

 

[ejaz007]

Proposal to Reprogram Pakistani Military Aid into F-16s Generating Tension
05-Aug-2008 17:50 EDT

On June 30/08, “US GAO Criticizes CSF Aid to Pakistan” discussed some of the tensions inherent in US aid to Pakistan, which has totaled several billion dollars since 2001. In addition to accounting and documentation issues, there have also been several instances in which the Pakistani military’s priorities and uses of its funds have diverged from the counter-terror focus intended by the US government.

Pakistan’s current status as a country with a larger and more active insurgency than Iraq’s has two seemingly paradoxical effects. On the one hand, it raises the stakes when “Coalition Support Funding” and other counter-terror aid is used for other military efforts or prestige projects instead. On the other hand, because the stakes are so high given Pakistan’s ownership of nuclear weapons, the USA’s leverage for dealing with questionable appropriations is reduced to some extent. Aid to Pakistan has always been as much about keeping its military and government on side as it has been about dealing with the Al-Qaeda/Taliban networks that currently control significant sections of the country along the Afghan border.

In late July 2008, all of these tensions exploded into view, as Pakistan proposed to redirect 2/3 of its 2008 aid into modernizing its older F-16 fighter fleet to the same standard as the new F-16 Block 50/52 aircraft it is about to receive. The US State Department acquiesced; but Congress seems to be of a different mindset…

Pakistan is already undertaking a $5.1 billion combined program to purchase new F-16s, and upgrade the 1980s-vintage F-16A/Bs it bought in the 1980s.

Under the proposal put forward by the US State Department, $226 million would be taken from an approved $300 million allotment for other Pakistan anti-terror operations. The move has reportedly been prompted by soaring food and energy costs, which are creating fiscal pressures on the government.

Earlier flagship projects under the US military aid program included modernization of Pakistan’s P-3 Orion aircraft, and upgrades to its AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters. P-3 maritime patrol are being used by the USA itself over Afghanistan, where its long loiter time and surveillance capabilities have proven to be very useful. Upgraded P-3s also have implications for the conventional balance of power in Pakistan’s section of the Indian Ocean, given their long-range anti-ship strike capabilities.

AFP quotes an anonymous State Department official as saying that the AH-1 upgrades will take place using different funding, though the GAO’s recent report indicates that fleet maintenance may be a more productive use of the funds. P-3 Orion funding, on the other hand, appears to be a casualty of the proposed change.

In response, July 29/08 saw a pair of key legislators move to suspend the reprogramming, and offer an alternative. Democratic lawmakers Howard Berman [D-CA, Chair House Foreign Affairs Committee] and Nita Lowey [D-NY, Chair of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs’ Appropriations Subcommittee], cited the FY 2008 fiscal year state and foreign operations bill, which specifically required that military aid to Pakistan be used for counterterrorism and law enforcement activities directed against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

While the situation in Pakistan is probably serious enough to warrant the use of air strikes against enemy strongholds, or in close-air support capacities, airpower is never a perfectly precise instrument. Its use has collateral effects on civilian support for the government that must be taken into account. The current civilian government’s emphasis on continuing Musharraf’s failed “Waziristan accords” strategy makes Pakistan’s F-16s a very unlikely counter-terror tool, unless the political situation shifts significantly.

The Berman-Lowey hold in the US Congress is not binding, but such holds are traditionally respected. The request asks for ”...time for Congress to make a more considered judgment in consultation with the administration and the government of Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, a counterproposal in Congress would add $200 million in economic assistance to Pakistan, which has received around $1.5 billion in economic assistance from the USA over the past 2 years. This would presumably allow the Pakistani government to cope with other fiscal pressures, while preserving the intended uses of the CSF funding.


Proposal to Reprogram Pakistani Military Aid into F-16s Generating Tension

 

[HAIDER]

Boeing in St Louis, MO received a $68.8 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for Full Rate Production Lot 4 (FRP 4) Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS), produced by VSI. At this time, total funds have been obligated. Work will be complete December 2009.

The Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (F33657-01-D-0026/Delivery Order 0058). The systems will be used on USAF F-15s and F-16s, MACH Brooks, the USN's F/A-18 platforms, and foreign military sales to Poland (F/16s), Belgium (F-16s), Pakistan (F-16s), Greece (F-16s), Royal Australian Air Force (F/A-18s), Switzerland (F/A-18s), and Canada (F/A-18s).
Google Image Result for http://airbornecombatengineer.typepad.com/photos/aircraft/jhmcs470ace.jpg

 

[Myth_buster_1]

F-16 MLU M2 Pilots guide

 

[Myth_buster_1]

PAF F-16 formation..

 

[fatman17]

Date Posted: 13-Aug-2008

Jane's Defence Weekly

TAI closes in on Pakistani F-16A/B upgrade contract

Lale Sariibrahimoglu JDW Correspondent - Ankara

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will be awarded a contract to upgrade 42 Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Lockheed Martin F-16A/B Block 15 combat aircraft once negotiations are concluded later in the year, a TAI source has confirmed.

The mid-life upgrade (MLU) will involve an avionics replacement as well as structural modifications designed to bring them closer to Block 50 standard.

The work will be carried out at TAI facilities near Ankara and will commence in early 2009; it is expected to be completed in 2011.

According to TAI sources, an earlier agreement to upgrade PAF F-16s had to be abandoned due to unspecified economic reasons. For this latest upgrade, TAI was competing against Dutch company Fokker and Belgian company Sabca.

Before the work can begin, two Block 15 F-16s will undergo a test verification installation at a Lockheed Martin facility in the United States.

The Pakistan tender came following a letter of agreement (LOA) signed between the US and Pakistani governments in September 2007 clearing the transfer of avionics and structural upgrade components.

Seperately, TAI plans to complete the MLU and structural modification of 17 Jordanian Block 15 F-16 A/Bs by the end of this year.

Egypt has also announced its intention to upgrade its 33 F-16A/B Block 15 aircraft for which TAI plans to bid.

Meanwhile, in a separate deal with Pakistan, Turkish company Aselsan, a strategic partner with Islamabad in the production of Pakistani army field radios, will also provide the Pakistani navy with four gyro-stabilised 25 mm guns under a deal signed in July.

Additionally, Havelsan of Turkey has sold Pakistan a USD28 million tactical simulated range electronic warfare system to deter surface-to-air threats.

Turkey and Pakistan have already agreed to co-operate in research and development across a range of defence projects, including the joint production of cluster bombs.


this should clear-up the mistakes made by our newspaper services.


Jane's Login

 

[Owais]

Date Posted: 13-Aug-2008

Jane's Defence Weekly

TAI closes in on Pakistani F-16A/B upgrade contract

Lale Sariibrahimoglu JDW Correspondent - Ankara

Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will be awarded a contract to upgrade 42 Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Lockheed Martin F-16A/B Block 15 combat aircraft

Before the work can begin, two Block 15 F-16s will undergo a test verification installation at a Lockheed Martin facility in the United States.

Jane's Login

its really a good development. I have a little query here that news shows we have total of 44 F-16A/B. but there should be 46 F16s (32 old + 14 supplied by US)

 

[fatman17]

its really a good development. I have a little query here that news shows we have total of 44 F-16A/B. but there should be 46 F16s (32 old + 14 supplied by US)

4 F-16s r already in the US for the MLU! the sums add up!

 

[BATMAN]

US releases $ 116 mln to finance Pakistan F-16 upgrades

WASHINGTON (US): The United States has released $ 116 million to finance mid-life upgrades for Pakistan’s existing fleet of F-16 fighter planes.

The administration released the amount after completion of necessary process for shifting funds from foreign military financing, already allocated for the anti-terrorism South Asian ally.

The U.S. officials, commenting on the proposed re-allocation of funds last month, said jets upgrades would help enhance Pakistan’s counterterrorism capability.

Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani held a series of meetings with U.S. lawmakers during the past few weeks to secure wider support for the move.

Was it not suppose to be 230million! is it a typo or my false imagination? or perhaps funds had been slashed due to the incompetency of our ambassador to US?

 

[fatman17]

US releases $ 116 mln to finance Pakistan F-16 upgrades



Was it not suppose to be 230million! is it a typo or my false imagination? or perhaps funds had been slashed due to the incompetency of our ambassador to US?

according to DAWN dated 17, Aug-08 " pakistan has already received the first tranche of US 108m, US 116m is the second tranche and a total of US474m will be used for these upgrades". so everything is fine.