F-16 Fighting Falcon News

April 28, 2014 (by Asif Shamim) - The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) received the first 5 of 13 F-16s purchased from Jordan on Sunday at Mushaf Air Base, Pakistan. The ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to Pakistan Nawaf Khalifa Saraieh and senior PAF and army officers also attended the arrival ceremony.
The batch of Ex Royal Jordanian F-16 ADF's were flown by Pakistani pilots, directly from Jordan. With the addition of these new airframes the PAF will reach 76 F-16s in service. Lockheed Martin and the US government gave its blessing for the sale/purchase of the jets with contracts being signed back in 2013.

PAF officials declined to give any details of the amount involved in the deal but they claimed that it has been transparent and it would be made public next month just before the delivery of the remaining F-16s.

The newly arrived aircraft will be operated by 19 Squadron ‘Sherdils’, which was also officially re-formed at Mushaf as an F-16 unit. The Squadron had previously been an F-7P/FT-7P Operational Conversion Unit at PAF Base M M Alam, the former PAF Base Miamwali, which was renamed on March 20, 2014.

The airframes which are all in good condition are expected (but not confirmed) to be updated to the Mid-Life Update (MLU). Each jet is expected to provide service for another 20 years with almost 3,000 flying hours life on average available per airframe.

Reiterating their commitment to face any challenge confronting Pakistan, Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafiq Butt has said that introduction of new F-16 fighter jets in the PAF fleet would further enhance its efficiency to effectively handle internal and external threats.