Bush backs F-16 sale to Pakistan

US President George W Bush has asked Congress to approve selling 18 new F-16 jets to Pakistan as a US nuclear deal with India progresses.

The administration submitted a package also including an option to purchase a further 18 jets and an offer to upgrade Pakistan's existing F-16 fleet.

Congress has 30 days to consider the deal with its traditional ally.

The state department said the deal was not related to the passage of a bill on nuclear cooperation with India.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee took an hour to endorse the Indian agreement by 16-2 on Thursday after it was cleared by a House of Representatives panel on Tuesday.

State department spokeswoman Julie Reside said the $5-billion F-16 deal with Pakistan was not related to the agreement with its historic rival.

"We believe in treating each country individually," she said. "Each faces defence issues different from the other."

The sale was, she said, "part of an effort to broaden [America's] strategic partnership with Pakistan".

Indian and Pakistan have fought three wars over Kashmir and both have nuclear arsenals.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/5131566.stm

Published: 2006/06/29 23:57:07 GMT

© BBC MMVI

Fact file: F-16

The F-16 has a fearsome reputation. It is one of the most reliable, manoeuvrable and effective military aircraft in the world.

Used mainly by the US it is a multi-role fighter with the ability to attack other planes in the air, and seek out and destroy targets on the ground.

In recorded dogfights with other aircraft it has defeated its opponents 70 times without a single loss.

"Flying wise, this is the top of the pyramid," is how one US pilot described his F-16 after it destroyed a MiG-29 during Nato's Kosovo campaign in 1999.

Its destructive ability has earned it the nickname "Viper" from its pilots.

During the 1991 Gulf War 250 F-16s made 13,500 sorties, or 40% of American bombing raids. F-16s dropped 20,000 tons of bombs during the conflict.

They helped target Scud missile launchers, amongst other things.

America has over 700 of the planes in active service. They are the backbone of its air force and are used by many other countries across the world including Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Since it first entered service at the end of the 1970s over 4,000 individual planes have been produced.

They are cheap, in military terms, and when first made they brought the innovation of fly-by-wire controls to fighter planes.

Using this system a pilot's choice of direction is relayed to the plane by electrical wires, not cables, as had been the case up until then.

Another key advantage of the F-16 is that its combat radius - range without refuelling - is higher than almost all other similar planes.

This means it can stay in a combat zone longer than its enemies, and can carry out longer range sorties.

It is able to fly missions in all weather conditions and at night.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/2868543.stm

Published: 2003/03/20 14:56:14 GMT

© BBC MMVI