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Islamabad, Pakistan (UPI) Jun 29, 2010 Pakistan has taken delivery of its first batch of F-16 combat aircraft, which the United States hopes will boost Islamabad's crackdown on militant extremists operating in the northwest of its frontiers. The three jet fighters leave an additional 14 destined for delivery by the end of the year. "This is the most visible part of a strong and growing relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani air forces that will benefit from us both near-term and long-term," U.S. Air Force Maj. Todd Robbins, the Pakistan country director in the office of the undersecretary of the Air Force for international affairs, said in an interview with American Forces Press Service. Other U.S. military official present during the delivery ceremony said the aircraft gives the Pakistani air force a night attack capability and all-weather precision in targeting, affording an advantage that the force lacked. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Michael Lefever, head of the U.S. military mission in Islamabad said the combat planes would be swiftly deployed in operations against Taliban, al-Qaida and other insurgents operating with impunity in Pakistan's rugged northwest frontiers. Despite a surge of U.S. F-16 sales to Pakistan during the 1980s, such purchases ended a decade later. In recent years, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned against halting such relations. Bent on bolstering its military, India announced plans recently to spend up to $30 billion on its military by 2012. In recent months, for example it inducted a long-range nuclear-tipped missile into its armed forces, unveiling, also, a defense spending budget spiked by 24 percent since last year. Earlier this year, the United States unveiled plans to provide Pakistan with 12 unmanned spy drones to boost surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities over its border regions where militant groups stage routine attacks against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. Last month, and after sanctioning the move, the United States said it would supply the F-16s on stringent conditions, including assurances that Islamabad wouldn't use the planes in any conflict with India. The U.S. Air Force has completed training of 16 Pakistani pilots in the United States, prepping them to man the aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin. U.S. officials, however, are expected to supervise their deployment as well as operations being planned against Taliban and al-Qaida forces. The U.S. officers are purported to be in control the management and logistics of the F-16s operation. The aircraft, equipped to drop laser- and satellite-guided bombs, are part of a $1.4 billion deal with Lockheed Martin.
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