Pak-US deal to replace PC-3 Orion aircraft destroyed during the terrorist attack on PNS Airbase has been scrapped subsequent to the rising tensions in relations between the two allies in the war on terror. US government informed Pakistan that it would not deliver any PC-3 Orion surveillance aircraft given the existing tense relations.
American has not only backed off from its assurance of delivery of two PC-3 Orion aircraft but also from delivering three additional planes. Secretary Defence Production, Lieutenant General Shahid Iqbal (Retd) stated that the government is not expecting any of the five aircraft to be delivered to Pakistan given the trust deficit between the two countries.
Pakistan requested the US to supply three additional PC-3 Orion planes for its Navy to make up for the loss of two planes destroyed by terrorists at Mehran Air Base Karachi in an act of terrorism. Talking at the concluding session of the National Assembly's Special Public Accounts Committee, Secretary revealed that the government has been looking at alternative to these destroyed aircraft.
Pakistan Naval Aviation is an important arm of the Pakistan Navy and assists in surface and submarine flights to guarantee the safety of Pakistani sea borders. The loss of the planes could weaken the capacity of the Navy in action against terrorists on the sea. Defence sources maintain that the delivery of PC-3 Orion planes was part of the $800 million US military assistance to Pakistan under the Coalition Support Fund which has been suspended until Pakistan meets certain US demands.
Earlier, Chairman PAF Kamra, Air Marshal Farhat Hussain said Pakistan could not fully indigence its JF-17 aircraft as it required enormous cost and advanced technology. However, he disclosed that PAF Kamra achieved 58 percent deletion the previous year but 100 percent deletion was not in the government's plan. He said Kamra built a record 26 planes in the last two years.
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