Thu, Oct 15, 2009
Ceremony Attended By Air Force Chiefs
Lockheed Martin took the wraps off the first of 18 new F-16s
being produced for Pakistan in ceremonies Tuesday at its Fort
Worth, Texas, facility. Officials including the Chiefs of Staff of
the U.S. and Pakistan Air Forces were on hand to witness the
event.
Air Chief Marshal Rao Quamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff,
Pakistan Air Force (PAF), accepted the first F-16 Block 52 aircraft
on behalf of his nation. Also present were Husain Haqqani,
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, and other senior
officials.
The U.S. government was represented by Rep. Kay Granger, Texas
12th District, and Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Air
Force.
"Peace Drive is the flagship of modernization for Pakistan's Air
Force. It is the latest configuration of the best 4th generation
multirole fighter available in the world today," said John Larson,
vice president of F-16 programs for Lockheed Martin.
The aircraft order is designated as "Peace Drive I," continuing
a long tradition of naming F-16 international sales programs with
the word Peace. The program raises the total number of F-16s
ordered by Pakistan to 54. The Pakistan Air Force received its
first F-16, in the Block 15 F-16A/B configuration, in 1982.
Pakistan has been operating Lockheed Martin aircraft since 1963,
when it received C-130B airlifters.
File Photo
The Peace Drive I order is for 12 F-16Cs and six F-16Ds, all
powered by the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine. The first
aircraft - a two-seat F-16D model - will be delivered to the U.S.
government (as agent for Pakistan in the Foreign Military Sales
process) in December, with the remainder following in 2010.
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