ISLAMABAD, 6 September 2003 — Pakistan, worried by nuclear rival India’s plans to acquire a strategic radar system from Israel, said yesteray it is seeking second-hand F-16 fighters from Belgium and will also request a similar US radar system.
Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, the spokesman for the Pakistan Air Force, said an Airborne Early Warning System would be on Pakistan’s shopping list when the US-Pakistani Defense Consultative Group meets in Washington later this month. Khan said Pakistan would also repeat its request for the supply of an initial 28 F-16 aircraft the United States refused to deliver in the 1990s due to concerns about Islamabad’s nuclear program. In addition, Pakistan had asked Belgium to sell it about 20 F-16s Brussels plans to phase out, he said, although such a deal could be obstructed by Belgian re-export restrictions.
“We are looking to obtain these aircraft from wherever we can get them,” he told Reuters, adding that the request made about a month ago was being evaluated by Brussels. “I think money would not be a problem. The only problem would be the export restrictions,” he said.
Khan’s comments came ahead of a visit to India next week by Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, which has raised expectations of a deal worth more than $1 billion in which India would buy Phalcon airborne radars.
