Pakistan acquires U.S. P-3C surveillance aircraft

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18 years 8 months

Posts: 815

ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Pakistan, said on Wednesday that it had acquired eight P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft from the United States, which would help boost its naval capabilities.

The Pentagon notified the U.S. Congress of the plan to supply the planes to Pakistan in November, raising concerns in Pakistan's rival and neighbour India which has since considered the aircraft for its own military.

The Pentagon said at the time the aircraft would improve Pakistan's border security and its ability to restrict movement of militants.

However, Pakistan Navy spokesman Captain Aamir Naeem Baig said the aircraft were designed for maritime surveillance and could not be used for chasing militants along the land border with Afghanistan, where Islamic guerrillas are most active.

A statement from the Pakistan Navy said the aircraft, worth up to $970 million, were being provided free by the United States and would be fitted with modern avionics and missions systems by the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Corp .

The Bush administration also approved shipment of two F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in July after Washington lifted a two-decade ban on the supply of the planes to Pakistan.

Admiral Shahid Karimullah, Pakistan's chief of naval staff, said the Orions would "add a new dimension to the offensive punch of Pakistan Navy fleet".

Pakistan's fleet of P-3Cs now stands at 10 with the induction of eight new planes.

full article at >> http://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/breakingnews/view.asp?msgID=10019

Why is Unkil doing this ? :mad: :(

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Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 2,264

I dont know why you get so upset with Paks acquisition of free arms from Unkil. Look at it this way - Pak's desire to "compete" with India cannot bear any fruit until they are a significant economic power. that aint gonna happen with a economy 12X smaller than india while population is onlee 6X smaller..and India continues to brush them aside like a irritating but ultimately powerless moth and deepen and widen its engagement with the world economy. Trade volume is reaching $250 bil this year and increasing@ 30%. Foreign investors have poured around $8 bil so far this year into indian market. the world has a increasing stake in our success and future. we are not a security and terrorist problem to be "managed" unlike our neighbour.

being a poor country with atleast 300mil in desperate poverty, indian citizens have dozens of other worries on their to-do list than scheming some mythic "hegemony" on poor old pakistan.

$970 mil can setup 5 very well funded colleges of higher learning .... the choice is always theirs to make. I am sure they know better than us whats the best investment :D

So pls dont start these rant threads everytime a P3C or F22 lands up in Pak.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,877

Stealth Spy, i seriously recommend to stop using emoticons and other wannabe-funny edits when copypasting news articles onto this forum. Keep your islamophobia to yourself, over here it is considered trolling.

You are warned again. Next time, face consequences.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 920

Stealth Spy Ji , you need to take a break, go out and have fun mate, staying too long on this forum is not good for you. :)