The UAE will take delivery of a first batch of the latest American-made F-16 fighter jets in May this year, UAE Air Force Commander has disclosed. "The UAE will start receiving the first batch of the 80 fighters in May," Major-General Khaled Mubarak Al Bu Ainan, Commander of the UAE Air Forces, said in an interview to Al Jundi magazine on the occasion of IDEX 2005, which will kick off on Saturday.
| 80 fighters? That does seem to be quite a few for the UAE. |
The aircraft will be exported to the UAE under the terms of contractual agreements signed in March 2000 with the US aerospace company Lockheed Martin. First announced in May 1998, the estimated $6.4 billion deal calls for delivery of 80 F-16C/D aircraft to the UAE starting from the end of 2004 through 2007. "The highly sophisticated multi-role "Block 60" fighters purchased from the US Lockheed Martin will be a valuable addition to our air force capabilities," he added. He said the F-16 fighter deal was an important step towards boosting defence capabilities of the UAE and building an affective defence system based on a conventional deference force. Maj-Gen Al Bu Ainan said there were ambitious plans to modernise the air force and defence force to keep abreast with requirements of the third millennium. The $8.6 billion package, which involves the purchase of 80 F-16s, includes delivery, training, construction of air bases and other related facilities, spare parts and maintenance. Tailored to the UAE specifications, the Block 60 platform, according to industry sources, will include additional fuel tanks for extended range, a new electronic warfare system, a new mission computer, new cockpit displays, a new internal sensor suite, and a new Agile Beam Radar for improved tracking of multiple targets at longer ranges.
| Mighty attractive package. Wonder who's got them worried? |
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