US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House, in Washington, DC, USA. (PTI)
Pakistan is expected to receive AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) from the United States, according to a press release by United States Department of War (DoW).According to the release, an arms contract recently notified by the United States Department of War (DoW), formerly known as the Department of Defence, includes Pakistan among the buyers of the AMRAAM.The US missiles are equipped on F-16 Falcons flown by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), a report by the Pakistani news outlet Dawn said. The missile was reportedly used by the Pakistan Air Force during aerial engagements that followed the Balakot air strikes in 2019.
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In February 2019, in an intelligence-led operation, India struck the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Balakot. In this operation, a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated.Also Read | ‘Bold and precise attacks’: IAF chief AP Singh reflects on Operation Sindoor; hails home-grown capabilitiesRaytheon, the missile’s manufacturer, received a USD 41.6 million modification to a previously awarded contract (FA8675-23-C-0037) under a firm-fixed-price arrangement (P00026) to produce the missile’s C8 and D3 variants, according to a US Department of War press release on September 30. This modification, which includes Pakistan among foreign military sales recipients, increases the total contract value to over USD 2.51 billion.The modification, which lists Pakistan among the foreign military sales recipients, increases the total contract value to over USD 2.51 billion, news agency PTI reported.“This contract involves foreign military sales to UK, Poland, Pakistan, Germany, Finland, Australia, Romania, Qatar, Oman, Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Japan, Slovakia, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Norway, Spain, Kuwait, Finland, Sweden, Taiwan, Lithuania, Israel, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Turkey,” the notification states.The contract states that work on the order is expected to be completed by May 2030. It is unclear how many, if any, new AMRAAMs will be delivered to Pakistan, but the development has fueled speculation that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) may upgrade its F-16 fleet. In PAF service, the AMRAAM is compatible only with F-16 jets. Earlier this year, PAF Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar visited the US State Department in July.Defence publication Quwa, cited by PTI, reported that the AIM-120C8 is the export version of the AIM-120D, the primary AMRAAM variant used by the US military. The PAF currently operates the older C5 version, with 500 units acquired for its latest Block 52 F-16s in 2010.The development comes as ties between Washington and Islamabad show signs of improvement after Pakistan credited US President Donald Trump for arranging a ceasefire after the military conflict with India in May during ‘Operation Sindoor’, and even proposed his name for the Nobel Peace Prize.In response to the Pahalgam terror attack, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.India has consistently maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.
