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By: - 26th May 2005 at 11:36 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
should weight in at around $4bil counting spares, training and munitions.
They need to produce Osama or mulla omar to have Unkil pickup the full tab on this one.
By: - 26th May 2005 at 12:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
A more detailed article.........
Pakistan seeks as many as 75 new F-16 warplanes
(Reuters)
26 May 2005
WASHINGTON - Pakistan has asked about buying as many as 75 new F-16C/D Falcon fighter aircraft since the Bush administration announced it would resume sales, the head of the Pentagon agency handling the matter said on Wednesday.
Pakistan also has asked about buying 11 used F-16s, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, head of the Defence Security Cooperation Agency, which runs US government-to-government arms sales.
Many experts had expected Pakistan to seek only about two-dozen F-16s, said Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group, a Virginia-based aerospace consultancy.
The numbers cited by Kohler show Pakistan wants to make the F-16 a mainstay of its combat aircraft fleet, he said, terming this “very ambitious in terms of regional strategy and very costly.”
The single-engine, multi-role F-16 is built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. The new purchases would flesh out a fleet of about 32 F-16s acquired before Congress cut off sales in 1990 over Pakistan’s nuclear program.
The potential Pakistan orders could keep open the F-16 production line, which is scheduled to close in 2008. The line employs about 5,000 people in Fort Worth, Texas. A Lockheed spokesman, Joe Stout, declined to comment on the size of Pakistan’s possible order.
Downsizing a possibility
Kohler, in an interview with Reuters, said Pakistan had requested prices for F-16 Block 50/52 aircraft, the most modern F-16s flown by the United States and the current production standard. Similar aircraft have been exported to Poland, Greece, Chile, Oman and Israel.
Only the United Arab Emirates flies a more advanced variant, Block 60, with improved radar, defences and range.
Asked about any Pakistani interest in the Block 60 model, Kohler said: “They did not ask for it and I don’t think they could afford it.”
Kohler held arms-sale talks with defence ministry officials in Pakistan and India last month.
“I think when we go back and talk to them about the cost of the new systems my guess is that they will downsize slightly the (request for) new and they may increase slightly the used,” he said.
The Bush Administration announced on March 25 that it would resume sales of F-16s to Pakistan after a nearly 16-year break. The about-face was widely seen as a reward for Pakistan’s support in the US-led global war on terrorism.
At the same time, the administration said it would let Boeing Co. and Lockheed compete for a potential $9 billion market in India for as many as 126 combat aircraft.
Lockheed is pitching India the same F-16 Block 50/52 and Boeing is offering its dual-engine F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the most modern combat US aircraft currently in full-rate production.
The F-16C/D Block 50/52 sells for $40 million to $45 million each, depending on options. Boeing’s Super Hornet is expected to go for $50 million to $55 million, based on the price of the US Navy’s next production batch, Kohler said.
India has not yet asked about acquiring state-of-the-art F-16 Block 60 aircraft, he said.
He said India was seeking to co-produce or co-assemble domestically the majority of the aircraft it eventually buys. It also apparently had invited bids from Sweden, France and Russia, Kohler said.
For Pakistan, US government officials were still weighing the weapons systems, targeting pods, radars and electronic warfare equipment that would be offered as part of a package.
A deal could perhaps be notified to Congress toward the end of the summer, the first step in a process that could lead to deliveries three years after an agreement is signed, Kohler said.
By: - 26th May 2005 at 14:34 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
If India is able to get the Sewer Hornet, I wonder if that means they're more likely to get approval for JSF down the road?
By: - 26th May 2005 at 14:38 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Halo 2: Sean 1, Victor 0
You just did not go there!!! :D
By: - 26th May 2005 at 15:13 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Stupid question, but what is the difference in price between a block 50/52 and a block 60?
By: - 26th May 2005 at 15:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Stupid question, but what is the difference in price between a block 50/52 and a block 60?
Night and day
By: - 26th May 2005 at 15:50 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
should weight in at around $4bil counting spares, training and munitions.They need to produce Osama or mulla omar to have Unkil pickup the full tab on this one.
Unkil is not going to pick up the tab. BTW your numbers may be on the low side. I estimate it will be closer to 5 billion easily.
BTW, I had mentioned on April 14 that Pakistan was asking for a two-part deal with initial delivery from USAF reserves. Chalk up the third straight correct prediction for GA.
By: - 26th May 2005 at 16:04 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
You just did not go there!!! :D
Eh? You think you can even the score? :D
By: - 26th May 2005 at 16:07 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
deliveries three years after an agreement is signed
THree years after signing? Interesting. That means there'd be 80-some F-16s coming online around the same time as the JF-17. Might this potential deal mean a reduction in the number of JF-17s bought?
By: - 26th May 2005 at 16:09 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Do they retire some of their older airframe F-16s or do they upgrade them as well, any thoughts? How much life is there left in the F-16As?
By: - 26th May 2005 at 16:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
PAF has some 32 F-16 block 15 which are also going to be given MLU.
By: - 26th May 2005 at 19:20 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
THree years after signing? Interesting. That means there'd be 80-some F-16s coming online around the same time as the JF-17. Might this potential deal mean a reduction in the number of JF-17s bought?
The reduction in number would match the number of LCA's IAF would reduce when M2K come online.....
By: - 26th May 2005 at 19:24 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The reduction in number would match the number of LCA's IAF would reduce when M2K come online.....
Since when is Pakistan buying one JF-17 for every one LCA India produces?
By: - 26th May 2005 at 20:08 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Che is known to make the most intelligent comments around here, let it be. :)
By: - 26th May 2005 at 20:14 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I sincerely hope that's sarcasm, Sameer :D
By: - 26th May 2005 at 20:35 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Night and day
that depends..because the UAE paid 6.4 billion dollars for the entire package of 55+25=80 blk 60 aircraft..this package is for aircraft+related infrastructure...this ammounts to 80 million per aircraft...however we really dont know how much the fly-away cost was as this 6.4 billion included development (which in this case was quite extensive and included a new radar+engine+avionics+Targetting system+cockpit etc etc)...i would emagine that to develop such a varient it would have atleast cost around 2 billion dollars...therefore a more realistic cost (fly-away) would/should be around a range of 55-65 million dollars a peice over a similarly-sized order and this cost would be mostlikely diminishing as a lot of the high technology becomes easier to manufacterer..
By: - 26th May 2005 at 20:36 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
John Conner: nope.
Sean Connery: no again.
:D
By: - 26th May 2005 at 21:29 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Unkil is not going to pick up the tab. BTW your numbers may be on the low side. I estimate it will be closer to 5 billion easily.BTW, I had mentioned on April 14 that Pakistan was asking for a two-part deal with initial delivery from USAF reserves. Chalk up the third straight correct prediction for GA.
$5B is too much. my initial prediction is something closer to $2.5B if things work out. nothing has been decided yet so your predicitions have no meaning at this point. as Old F-16 number will increase relative to newer one in the order as mentioned by the person.
By: - 26th May 2005 at 21:32 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
THree years after signing? Interesting. That means there'd be 80-some F-16s coming online around the same time as the JF-17. Might this potential deal mean a reduction in the number of JF-17s bought?
PAF has 170 Mirages and around 190 F-7s. so JF-17 if replace two for one still comes to around 150 number. PAF needs to have alteast 300 new airplanes to defend the size of the long border.
By: - 26th May 2005 at 23:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Up to Rs 15b raise in defence spending?
ISLAMABAD: An extra Rs 12 to 15 billion will be allocated to defence in the next budget and the sum needed to buy F-16 aircraft will also be included in the upcoming budget, Online quoted sources as saying on Wednesday. Defence spending was Rs 193. 79 billion in the 2004-05 budget, which would be increased to Rs 208 billion, sources said. They said a separate sum would be reserved to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States. The US government has already announced that it would sell these aircraft to Pakistan. Military sources said that Pakistan would also buy modern supersonic aircraft from the US and its details were being worked out. Sources said these purchases aimed to meet the armed forces’ defence requirements and maintain the balance of power in the region. Sources said the government had assured the military that funds would be released on priority.
Posts: 1,220
By: phrozenflame - 26th May 2005 at 09:51
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan has asked about buying 75 new F-16C/D Falcon fighter aircraft since the Bush administration announced it would resume sales, the head of the Pentagon agency handling the matter said on Wednesday. Pakistan also has asked about buying 11 used F-16s, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, head of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which runs U.S. government-to-government arms sales.
http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/26/welcome.htm
© DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2005
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75 New +11 Used = 86 F-16s