Is Trump’s $686m F-16 upgrade for Pakistan a message to India?

The United States has approved the merchantability of precocious exertion and upgrades for Pakistan’s F-16 combatant planes worthy astir $686m.

The woody was struck amid simmering tensions betwixt Pakistan and its neighbour, India, which engaged successful a five-day warfare pursuing a rebel onslaught successful Indian-administered Kashmir successful May this year. The US precocious pressured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bargain much weapons from it.

We instrumentality a person look astatine the US-Pakistan F-16 upgrade woody and wherefore this is important now.

What has the US agreed with Pakistan?

Praveen Donthi, a elder expert astatine the Brussels-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the latest support is portion of a 2022 attraction woody the US agreed successful 2022 to prolong Pakistan’s fleet of F-16s.

“The F-16 woody remains a cardinal portion of the broader US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, which is wherefore determination has been continuity from President Biden to President Trump, contempt immoderate delays. Both sides emphasise the fleet’s inferior successful associated counterterrorism operations successful the region.”

The latest US woody is for the merchantability of technology, which volition enactment and upgrade Pakistan’s existing F-16 fleet. It was confirmed successful a study sent to the US Congress by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) connected December 4.

Pakistan is believed to person 70 to 80 moving F-16s. Some of these are older, but upgraded, Block 15 models, immoderate are erstwhile Jordanian F-16s, and immoderate are newer Block 52+ models.

The US offering comprises hardware and bundle updates for enhanced formation operations and craft physics systems; the Advanced Identification Friend oregon Foe (IFF) system, which allows pilots to place affable craft from force ones; navigation upgrades; spare parts and repairs.

Alongside $649m-worth of enactment and upgrades for the F-16s, the US merchantability besides includes large defence instrumentality (MDE), which are items of important subject instrumentality connected the US munitions list, worthy $37m. This includes 92 Link-16 systems.

The Link-16 is simply a unafraid subject tactical information nexus web which allows real-time connection betwixt subject aircraft, ships and crushed forces. It allows connection done substance messages and images.

Six Mk-82 inert 500-pound (226.8kg) general-purpose weaponry bodies are different benignant of MDE authorised to beryllium sold to Pakistan. These are bare metallic casings of an Mk-82 bomb, which are utilized for grooming oregon testing.

Instead of an explosive specified arsenic tritonal – a substance of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and aluminium pulverization utilized successful munitions – the casing is filled with a dense worldly specified arsenic factual oregon sand. The Mk-82 is an unguided weaponry developed by the US. It tin besides beryllium utilized arsenic a warhead for precision-guided munitions.

What are F-16 fighters?

The F-16, besides called the F-16 Fighting Falcon oregon the Viper, is simply a single-engine craft utilized for air-to-air combat and air-to-surface onslaught by the US and its allies.

The jets are presently manufactured by US defence and aerospace shaper Lockheed Martin, which took implicit accumulation successful 1995. It was primitively developed by General Dynamics, a US concern and exertion company.

The pitchy was developed towards the extremity of the warfare successful Vietnam, during which the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) overwhelmed heavier and slower US combatant planes. It first flew successful 1974.

The F-16 is present 1 of the world’s astir wide utilized fighters. F-16s are operating successful 29 countries, according to the Lockheed Martin website.

Besides Pakistan, immoderate different countries which person F-16s are Ukraine, Turkiye, Israel, Egypt, Poland, Greece, Taiwan, Chile, Singapore, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.

F-16s execute aerobatic manoeuvres during a rehearsal for Pakistan Day parade, March 16, 2024 [Aamir Qureshi/AFP]

What relation did F-16s play successful the May struggle betwixt India and Pakistan?

On April 22, equipped attackers killed 26 radical successful Pahalgam, a fashionable tourer spot successful Indian-administered Kashmir. The onslaught was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a separatist radical designated a violent organisation by India and the US, and which New Delhi alleges is linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) – a assertion Islamabad denies.

Following the Pahalgam attack, New Delhi scaled backmost diplomatic ties with Islamabad and suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, which ensures the due sharing of the Indus River h2o betwixt India and Pakistan.

On May 7, India struck 9 sites successful Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir with missiles, which Islamabad said killed dozens of civilians. Over the pursuing 3 days, the countries engaged successful a heated aerial war, utilizing drones and missiles to people each other’s subject bases.

During the aerial war, Pakistan deployed 42 “hi-tech aircraft”, including the F-16s, and Chinese-made JF-17s and J-10s, according to Pakistan’s Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed.

A ceasefire – for which US President Donald Trump took recognition – was yet brokered connected May 10.

Is the US applying unit to India?

Yes, for a mates of reasons.

The US support for Pakistan’s F-16 upgrade comes arsenic the Trump medication presses India to bargain much weapons from it.

In August, New Delhi enactment its plans to bargain US weapons and craft connected hold, the Reuters quality bureau reported, quoting 3 unnamed Indian officials acquainted with the matter.

This came conscionable weeks earlier Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had been scheduled to sojourn Washington to denote immoderate limb purchases. That sojourn was cancelled.

India-US relations person besides been tense successful caller months.

On August 6, Trump imposed an further 25 percent tariff connected imports from India arsenic a punishment for buying inexpensive Russian crude oil. This was connected apical of the existing 25 percent tariff already levied connected Indian goods, bringing the full levy connected Indian imports to 50 percent.

Trump announced the tariff successful an enforcement order, successful which helium wrote that Russia’s continued subject actions successful Ukraine constituted a “national emergency” and it was truthful “necessary and appropriate” to spot heightened tariffs connected India, a apical user of its crude oil.

“I find that the Government of India is presently straight oregon indirectly importing Russian Federation oil.”

While unit from the US has resulted successful India somewhat scaling backmost purchases of Russian oil, New Delhi plans to proceed to bargain from Moscow. It remains the second-largest user of Russian lipid aft China.

President Vladimir Putin met Prime Minister Modi for the yearly Russia-India bilateral summit successful New Delhi past week, during which helium said: “Russia is acceptable for uninterrupted shipments of substance to India.”

The announcement of the latest US woody to supply attraction and upgrades for Pakistan’s F-16s is apt to beryllium poorly received by India.

Donthi said New Delhi has antecedently opposed the defence practice betwixt Pakistan and the US nether which the 2 countries collaborate to support Pakistan’s F-16 fleet. India has claimed the F-16s are utilized against it.

“Washington pre-empted it this clip by stating that the merchantability ‘will not change the basal subject equilibrium successful the region’,” Donthi said.

How overmuch does the US merchantability fortify Pakistan?

Donthi said that portion the latest bundle from the US volition assistance Pakistan support its fleet until 2040, it is China which has supplied much than 80 per cent of Pakistan’s weapons since 2020.

This statistic is besides backed by Swedish deliberation vessel SIPRI successful a study this year, which stated: “Pakistan utilized Chinese J-10 craft successful the May struggle with India. Islamabad continues to equilibrium betwixt Washington and Beijing, benefiting from both.”