April 24, 2014:
In the last year the United States has resumed shipping military equipment to Pakistan. These shipments were halted after the 2011 U.S. raid into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden. Pakistan was unhappy with this raid and retaliated which led to the U.S. halting military aid. All of that was sort-of patched up in 2013. Thus in the last year Pakistan received several major items, including high-end military radios, upgrades for 35 Pakistani F-16s and on the way are 374 upgraded M113 armored personnel carriers. Between 2002 and 2011 Pakistan received a lot more. This included four refurbished P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. Three of these were destroyed by Islamic terrorists in 2011 but four more are on the way. Items already received include 14 F-16A jets, 59 T-37 jet trainers, nearly 6,000 military radio sets, 2,007 TOW anti-tank guided missiles; six AN/TPS-77 surveillance radars, six refurbished C-130E transport aircraft, a refurbished Perry class frigate, 12 refurbished AH-1F helicopter gunships (with eight more to come) and professional training for over 2,000 Pakistani military officers. Pakistan was also allowed to buy (with its own money rather than U.S. loans or gifts) 18 new F-16C fighters, 500 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles; 1,450 2,000 pound (909 kg) bombs; 500 JDAM Tail Kits and 1,600 Enhanced Paveway laser-guided kits for unguided bombs.
Since 2002 the United States has provided Pakistan with over $20 billion in economic and military aid. About a quarter of that was military aid, including $3 billion worth of hardware. About a third of this is still awaiting delivery. Much of what was given in cash was stolen, and that was often blatant and with little effort to hide what was going on. Such is the culture of corruption in Pakistan. Even much non-cash aid, like food, office equipment or industrial items ended up getting sold with the cash disappearing into some government official’s foreign bank account.
It’s also believe that Chinese military experts get to carefully examine any American weapons and equipment delivered and some of it has probably been shipped back to China for the most retailed and thorough analysis.
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htproc/articles/20140424.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment