@farhan_9909
I have a question to the thread starter. What is your point in starting this thread?
The author of the article himself has said he doesn't believe pakistan can develop a nuclear device of such small size, although he admits that he is intrigued by it. So basically the author himself is as confused as anyone else and now you have just started a fire by posting such a crappy article and you go on to make tall claims about 84 missiles in one go and your nuclear submarine. A few months ago you were busy claiming that pakistan will get 14 additional F16s by December 2012. This is december 2012. I don't see any new F16s nor any news about them.
Such threads based on extremely thin info and crappy articles shouldn't be allowed to flourish on this forum.
Mod: Mention added
Pakistan to receive surplus US F-16 fighters
Gareth Jennings Aviation Desk Editor - London
Pakistan is set to receive a number of modified Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft over the coming months, the US Embassy in Islamabad has revealed.
Pakistan looks set to receive a further 14 surplus F-16s from the US in the coming months.
According to a US Embassy statement issued in early January, "several ... F-16s purchased by Pakistan from the US are undergoing mid-life upgrades [MLU] and will arrive in Pakistan beginning in late January. Deliveries will continue throughout this year and next."
While Pakistan is known to be waiting on the delivery later this month of the last of 18 new-build F-16C/D fighters ordered under the 'Peace Drive' I programme, there has been no clear statement on the status of upgraded legacy F-16 platforms due to be delivered.
In July 2006 a US Defence Security and Cooperation Agency (DSCA) notification informed the US Congress of the possible sale of 36 F-16C/D Block 50/52 fighters and 60 Falcon Star MLU kits: the proposed F-16C/D deal was later halved to the 18 jets currently being delivered.
While some of the Falcon Star MLU kits are to be fitted to the Pakistan Air Force's existing F-16 inventory, 28 have been earmarked for ex-US Air Force F-16A/B (or perhaps early F-16C/D) aircraft to be donated to Pakistan at no cost (except for the cost of the upgrade and transportation to Pakistan). To date, only 14 surplus aircraft have been donated, with Pakistan waiting on the remaining 14 F-16s.
In March 2011 Pakistani Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman confirmed that talks were taking place with Washington for the acquisition of the 14 outstanding F-16s and it is thought that the US Embassy's statement refers to these aircraft.
Pakistan originally purchased F-16s from the US in the 1980s but delivery was suspended with 28 outstanding in 1989 by then President George HW Bush over Islamabad's nuclear weapons programme. In 1998 the US agreed to pay Pakistan compensation of USD325 million in cash and USD140 million worth of surplus wheat and soy for the outstanding aircraft.
COMMENT
The timing of this apparent agreement between the two countries for the release of the 14 F-16s is especially significant as it comes at possibly the lowest ebb in relations between the two countries.
Following the air strike by US helicopters on a Pakistan Army position close to the Afghan border on 26 November 2011, the already fraught and dysfunctional relationship between the reluctant allies hit an all-time low with Pakistan closing its border with Afghanistan to US and NATO supply convoys.
Despite US apologies over the incident, which left 26 Pakistani soldiers dead, Pakistan has so far rebuffed any overtures from Washington and, publically at least, steadfastly refuses any conciliation with its supposed partner in the war against the Taliban.
With coalition forces set to end combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, the US military has already drawn up plans to ship its more than USD30 billion of equipment out of the Central Asian country. With the Pakistan border crossings providing the route in and out of Afghanistan for more than 30 per cent of NATOs equipment, Washington will be eager for a normalisation of relations with Islamabad as quickly as possible.
Whether or not this F-16 deal is intended to help ease tensions between the US and Pakistan is unclear, but the arrival of additional fighters will no doubt go a long way to calming the waters between them.
