The US has authorized the sale of superior expertise and upgrades for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter planes value roughly $686m.
The deal was struck amid simmering tensions between Pakistan and its neighbour, India, which engaged in a five-day struggle following a insurgent assault in Indian-administered Kashmir in Could this 12 months. The US just lately pressured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to purchase extra weapons from it.
We take a more in-depth have a look at the US-Pakistan F-16 improve deal and why that is vital now.
What has the US agreed with Pakistan?
Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst on the Brussels-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Worldwide Disaster Group, advised Al Jazeera that the most recent approval is a part of a 2022 upkeep deal the US agreed in 2022 to maintain Pakistan’s fleet of F-16s.
“The F-16 deal stays a key a part of the broader US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, which is why there was continuity from President Biden to President Trump, regardless of some delays. Each side emphasise the fleet’s utility in joint counterterrorism operations within the area.”
The newest US deal is for the sale of expertise, which can assist and improve Pakistan’s current F-16 fleet. It was confirmed in a report despatched to the US Congress by the Protection Safety Cooperation Company (DSCA) on December 4.
Pakistan is believed to have 70 to 80 working F-16s. A few of these are older, however upgraded, Block 15 fashions, some are former Jordanian F-16s, and a few are newer Block 52+ fashions.
The US providing includes {hardware} and software program updates for enhanced flight operations and plane digital techniques; the Superior Identification Buddy or Foe (IFF) system, which permits pilots to establish pleasant plane from enemy ones; navigation upgrades; spare components and repairs.
Alongside $649m-worth of assist and upgrades for the F-16s, the US sale additionally contains main defence gear (MDE), that are objects of serious navy gear on the US munitions listing, value $37m. This contains 92 Hyperlink-16 techniques.
The Hyperlink-16 is a safe navy tactical knowledge hyperlink community which permits real-time communication between navy plane, ships and floor forces. It permits communication via textual content messages and pictures.
Six Mk-82 inert 500-pound (226.8kg) general-purpose bomb our bodies are one other sort of MDE authorised to be offered to Pakistan. These are empty steel casings of an Mk-82 bomb, that are used for coaching or testing.
As an alternative of an explosive resembling tritonal – a mix of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and aluminium powder utilized in munitions – the casing is stuffed with a heavy materials resembling concrete or sand. The Mk-82 is an unguided bomb developed by the US. It will also be used as a warhead for precision-guided munitions.
What are F-16 fighters?
The F-16, additionally known as the F-16 Preventing Falcon or the Viper, is a single-engine plane used for air-to-air fight and air-to-surface assault by the US and its allies.
The jets are presently manufactured by US defence and aerospace producer Lockheed Martin, which took over manufacturing in 1995. It was initially developed by Common Dynamics, a US industrial and expertise firm.
The jet was developed in direction of the top of the struggle in Vietnam, throughout which the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) overwhelmed heavier and slower US fighter planes. It first flew in 1974.
The F-16 is now one of many world’s most generally used fighters. F-16s are working in 29 international locations, based on the Lockheed Martin web site.
Apart from Pakistan, another international locations which have F-16s are Ukraine, Turkiye, Israel, Egypt, Poland, Greece, Taiwan, Chile, Singapore, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.
What function did F-16s play within the Could battle between India and Pakistan?
On April 22, armed attackers killed 26 folks in Pahalgam, a preferred vacationer spot in Indian-administered Kashmir. The assault was claimed by The Resistance Entrance (TRF), a separatist group designated a terrorist organisation by India and the US, and which New Delhi alleges is linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – a declare Islamabad denies.
Following the Pahalgam assault, New Delhi scaled again diplomatic ties with Islamabad and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which ensures the suitable sharing of the Indus River water between India and Pakistan.
On Could 7, India struck 9 websites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir with missiles, which Islamabad stated killed dozens of civilians. Over the next three days, the international locations engaged in a heated aerial struggle, utilizing drones and missiles to focus on one another’s navy bases.
Through the aerial struggle, Pakistan deployed 42 “hi-tech plane”, together with the F-16s, and Chinese language-made JF-17s and J-10s, based on Pakistan’s Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed.
A ceasefire – for which US President Donald Trump took credit score – was ultimately brokered on Could 10.
Is the US making use of stress to India?
Sure, for a few causes.
The US approval for Pakistan’s F-16 improve comes because the Trump administration presses India to purchase extra weapons from it.
In August, New Delhi put its plans to purchase US weapons and plane on maintain, the Reuters information company reported, quoting three unnamed Indian officers accustomed to the matter.
This got here simply weeks earlier than Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had been scheduled to go to Washington to announce some weapon purchases. That go to was cancelled.
India-US relations have additionally been tense in current months.
On August 6, Trump imposed an extra 25 % tariff on imports from India as a punishment for shopping for low cost Russian crude oil. This was on prime of the present 25 % tariff already levied on Indian items, bringing the whole levy on Indian imports to 50 %.
Trump introduced the tariff in an government order, during which he wrote that Russia’s continued navy actions in Ukraine constituted a “nationwide emergency” and it was subsequently “vital and acceptable” to position heightened tariffs on India, a prime shopper of its crude oil.
“I discover that the Authorities of India is presently straight or not directly importing Russian Federation oil.”
Whereas stress from the US has resulted in India barely scaling again purchases of Russian oil, New Delhi plans to proceed to purchase from Moscow. It stays the second-largest shopper of Russian oil after China.
President Vladimir Putin met Prime Minister Modi for the annual Russia-India bilateral summit in New Delhi final week, throughout which he stated: “Russia is prepared for uninterrupted shipments of gas to India.”
The announcement of the most recent US deal to offer upkeep and upgrades for Pakistan’s F-16s is prone to be poorly obtained by India.
Donthi stated New Delhi has beforehand opposed the defence cooperation between Pakistan and the US below which the 2 international locations collaborate to take care of Pakistan’s F-16 fleet. India has claimed the F-16s are used towards it.
“Washington pre-empted it this time by stating that the sale ‘won’t alter the essential navy steadiness within the area’,” Donthi stated.
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst primarily based in Washington, DC, advised Al Jazeera: “I wouldn’t overstate the India angle right here. Definitely one might have a look at this deal as the most recent try by Washington to make use of its largesse to Pakistan as a stress level to get India to make extra concessions to the US in commerce talks.”
Nonetheless, he added that the deal is one which “has a logic of its personal that’s not tied to India”.
It’s largely a standalone association inside an extended‑working program to assist Pakistan’s US-made plane. It comes alongside continued, although much less beneficiant, US defence cooperation with India – reflecting two parallel tracks of safety ties relatively than a single India‑centered technique, Kugelman defined.
How a lot does the US sale strengthen Pakistan?
Kugelman stated the bundle is critical. “It is likely one of the extra beneficiant safety support packages to Pakistan in recent times. Practically $700 million is nothing to sneeze at.”
The deal can be vital for US-Pakistan relations because it signifies the significance the Trump administration locations on counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan.
“Vital minerals and different industrial alternatives have drawn probably the most headlines in discussions in regards to the resurgence in US-Pakistan ties. However counterterrorism collaborations, whereas modest in scope, are essential for this administration,” he stated.
Nonetheless, Donthi identified that whereas the most recent bundle from the US will assist Pakistan preserve its fleet till 2040, it’s China which has equipped greater than 80 per cent of Pakistan’s weapons since 2020.
This statistic can be backed by Swedish assume tank SIPRI in a report this 12 months.
“Pakistan used Chinese language J-10 plane within the Could battle with India. Islamabad continues to steadiness between Washington and Beijing, benefiting from each,” Donthi stated.
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