Three F-16 aircraft arrive

ISLAMABAD, June 26: The first batch of the latest version of F-16 fighters arrived at PAF’s Shahbaz air base in Jacobabad on Saturday as part of the delivery of 18 high-tech aircraft from the United States.

Pakistani pilots, who received training on the fighters in the US, flew the three aircraft to the base, a PAF spokesman said.

Pakistan attaches great significance to its air defence needs, the spokesman said, adding that a contract was signed with the US in 2005-06 for the acquisition of 18 F-16 C/D Block-52 aircraft. PAF would receive these aircraft in batches and the delivery of all 18 aircraft would complete by the end of this year.

Air Marshal Mohammad Hassan, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Operations), and Air Marshal Waseemuddin, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (Administration), received the aircraft.

The new version of F-16s is equipped with advanced avionics suite and latest weapons with night precision attack capability.

These are much superior to the F-16 A/Bs already in the inventory of the Pakistan Air Force, the spokesman said.

General Norton A. Schwartz, Chief of the Staff of US Air Force, has arrived to attend the formal handing over of F-16 planes to Pakistan.

The three aircraft would be inducted into the PAF at the newly upgraded base in Jacobabad under the Southern Air Command of the country on Sunday.

The Shahbaz base was earlier used as a ‘forward operating base’ of the PAF, but recently it was upgraded to handle the new F-16 fighter jets.

Posted in: