Nine AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters Ordered For Pakistan

The US Department of Defense in a statement, on Monday, granted $170 million for the manufacture of nine AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters to Bell Helicopter.

The statement added that the helicopters will be manufactured and handed over to Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales Program.

The Bell AH-1Z Viper, which is an upgrade on the previous SuperCobra model built for the US Marine Corps, is a twin-engine combat chopper and has a top speed of 420 kilometers per hour and a range of 610km.

The contract which was awarded “for the manufacture and delivery of nine AH-1Z aircraft and nine auxiliary fuel kits for the government of Pakistan” is “expected to be completed in September 2018”.

The Defense Department, in their statement, said “Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $170,173,188 will be obligated at time of award.” It did not fail to add that the Naval Air Systems Command is involved in contracting the deal for the Pakistani government.

The US State Department, last April, agreed to the Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles, including all associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $952 million.

Although India disapproved, the United States, earlier this year, agreed to $700m sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. America argued that the sale was intended to assist Pakistan’s precision strike capability.

A document released in February showed that the US administration had revealed its plan to US lawmakers, stating that its Foreign Military Funding (FMF) to Pakistan was based on seven crucial areas “identified and agreed to with the government of Pakistan”.

These include “precision strike; air mobility and combat search and rescue; counter-improvised explosive device and survivability; battlefield communications; night operations; border security; and maritime security/counter-narcotics in support of counter-terrorism aims”.

The document which was sent to Congress with the United States administration’s intended budge for 2017, mentioned these areas as vital to improving Pakistan’s counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism competencies.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=52560

Posted by modousarr on Apr 6 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.