Some points to note..
By Prasun K. Sengupta
Turkish Aerospace Industries, Inc (TAI) recently succeeded in bagging a USD 75 million combat aircraft modernisation contract from Pakistan under which a total of 42 Lockheed Martin-built F-16A/Bs belonging to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will be upgraded at TAIs facilities in 46 months starting from October 2010. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the start of work on the PAF F-16 Modernisation Programme was signed between TAI and the PAF during the IDEAS Defence Exhibition in September 2006 in Karachi, Pakistan.
Being invited to the international bid for the PAFs F-16 Modernisation Programme, TAI, among other European competitors, was announced as the main contractor of the programme following the final evaluation by PAF authorities in July 2008. Following contractual negotiations, which started in 2009 between TAI and Pakistani authorities, and the subsequent mutual agreement, the contract was signed between TAI and Pakistans ministry of defence production on June 29 at a ceremony held in Rawalpindi. In 2006, as a result of an earlier bidding process, TAI, which had signed an agreement with the Royal Jordanian Air Force for the modernisation of its F-16A/Bs, had successfully completed the programme with the delivery of the last aircraft last April.
The PAF presently operates 46 F-16A/Bs of which 32 remain from the original 40 aircraft that Pakistan bought in the early Eighties. Since 2005, the USAF has transferred 14 Excess Defense Article (EDA) F-16A/Bs to Pakistan.
The current Pakistan F-16 procurement programme is composed of three Letters of Offer and Acceptance (LOA). The first LOA providing for the production of 18 F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft is underway:
four aircraft will be ready in June 2010; four aircraft in August 2010; five aircraft in October 2010; four aircraft in Dec 2010; and, one aircraft in December 2011.
The second LOA provides for munitions and includes: 500 Raytheon AIM-120C-5 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM); 750 Mark 84 2,000lb General Purpose bombs; 700 BLU-109 2,000lb Penetrator bombs; 500 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) tail kits; 1,600 Enhanced Guided Bomb Unit (EGBU) kits; and assorted bomb fuzes and support equipment. These weapons will be available for delivery to Pakistan beginning in June 2010.
The third LOA provides for the Mid-Life Update (MLU) of their current fleet of 46 aircraft: four of these aircraft are currently in Fort Worth undergoing Trial Verification Installation, which is part of the mid-life upgrade (MLU) programme. Under the MLU LOA, Pakistan is procuring Falcon STAR structural upgrade kits for the 32 original F-16A/B aircraft and 35 MLU avionics upgrade kits for the current fleet (including three of the recently transferred EDA aircraft). There is an option on the contract to procure 11 additional MLU avionics upgrade kits for the remaining 11 aircraft. Pakistan has not yet exercised this option, but plans to do so at a future date.