Negotiations Underway Over Approved Airspace, Technology Swapping

A proposal put forth by the Bush administration in June that would allow Pakistan to buy up to 36 new F-16 Fighting Falcon warplanes carries with it some unusual conditions... stipulations Pakistani officials likely hope will disappear in ongoing negotiations.

Reuters reports that at the top of the list of US concerns over the proposed sale -- which also includes upgrades for Pakistan's current fleet of 34 earlier F-16s, and an option for 26 more refurbished fighters -- is the possibility advanced technology could fall into the hands of so-called "third countries." China, which has close military ties with Pakistan, is of particular concern.

US officials are also reportedly concerned that Pakistan -- a recent, and at times reluctant, US ally in the war on terror -- might use the planes to attack neighboring countries... especially India. To that end, John Hillen, the Assistant Secretary of State for political-military affairs, told Congress in July the F-16s would not be allowed outside Pakistani airspace without prior approval from the US.

Calling the technology-sharing safeguards built into the contract "unprecedented," Hillen also told the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee the United States would withhold certain technologies "that would usually go with an F-16," including those that would let it "be used in offensive ways to penetrate air space of another country that was highly defended."

Pakistan's F-16 fleet and its munitions would be kept separate from aircraft supplied by other countries, Hillen said, so unauthorized engineers could not gain access to the planes. US personnel would carry out checks of Pakistan's F-16 inventory twice a year.

For the most part, Pakistan has been receptive to the restrictions... although it's telling negotiations are still underway on the deal that was supposed to be approved by the end of August.

"We are quite satisfied with the current F-16 proposal," Pakistan Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Khan said in an interview last week. "Notwithstanding the ongoing F-16 negotiations, every aircraft deal has preconditions. Mostly these pertain to restrictions on transfer of technology, more akin to copyright laws."

FMI: www.pakistanidefence.com/PakAirForce/airforceIndex.html