The United States, which recently announced its plans for an arms sale of nearly $1 billion to Pakistan, has already turned over to that country as much as $5.2 billion worth of military hardware since 2001.
A detailed compilation by Congressional Research Service points to the fact that major US arms sales and grants to Pakistan have included not only items useful for counterterrorism operations, but also “a number of “big ticket” platforms more suited to conventional warfare”.
Major defence items turned over or soon to be provided under different heads include 18 new F-16 C/D Block 52 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft, 14 F-16A/B combat aircraft, eight P-3C Orion martime patrol aircraft, six C-130E Hercules transport aircraft, 20 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters, 59 T-37 Tweet military trainer jets, 274 M113 armoured personnel carriers, 100 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, 500 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and the Perry class missle frigate USS McInerney.
Pakistan also received 26 Bell 412EP utility helicopters, along with related parts and maintenance, valued at $235 million under Pentagon’s Coalition Support Funds. The report also notes that for counterinsurgency operations, the US has provided 4 Mi-17 multirole helicopters (another 6 were provided temporarily at no cost), 4 King Air 350 surveillance aircraft, 450 vehicles for the Frontier Corps and 20 Buffalo explosives detection and disposal vehicles.
Sales of F-16 combat aircraft and related equipment have accounted for about half of the total value under Foreign Military Sales agreements with Pakistan between fiscal years 2002 and 2012, the report says.
“Congress has appropriated more than $3 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Pakistan since 2001, more than two-thirds of which has been disbursed,” says the report, noting the funds are used to purchase US military equipment for longer-term modernisation efforts. In addition, Pakistan has been granted US defence supplies as Excess Defence Articles (EDA). The major articles transferred via the EDA route include the F-16A/B fighters, Tweet jets and the armoured personnel carriers.
The report also mentions that through International Military Education and Training and other programmes, the US has funded and provided training for more than 2,000 Pakistani military officers.
On top of this vast assortment of weaponry, the US last month notified its latest sale plan for AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles to Pakistan at an estimated cost of $952 million.