Author: Reuters
Publication: The Financial Express
Date: June 1, 2006
URL: http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=129103
The Bush administration said Wednesday it
was planning to let Pakistan buy advanced Boeing Co. Harpoon anti-ship missiles
and related equipment valued at up to $370 million in "a significant
upgrade" of the Asian nation's existing weapons systems.
Of the total "Block II" Harpoon
missiles sought by Pakistan, 50 would be for launch from submarines, 50 from
surface ships and 30 by air, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency
said in a notice to Congress required by law.
The equipment would provide "a significant
upgrade to Pakistan's existing systems and allow for improved target acquisition,"
said the agency, which handles U.S. government-to-government weapons sales.
The notice does not mean that a sale has been
concluded. In addition, Congress can interfere.
"This proposed sale will contribute to
the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to
improve the security of a friendly country that continues to be a key ally
in the global war on terrorism," the agency added.
Chicago-based Boeing describes the advanced
Harpoon as capable of knocking out coastal defenses, surface-to-air missile
sites and exposed aircraft as well as ships in port. It uses a satellite-aided
inertial navigation system.
The upgraded targeting capability "significantly
reduces the risk of hitting noncombatant targets, thus improving Pakistan's
naval operational flexibility," the agency told Congress.
Pakistan, which has fought three wars with
neighboring India since partition of British India in 1947, plans to use the
Harpoon on its Lockheed Martin Corp. P-3 maritime surveillance aircraft, surface
ships and submarines, the agency said.
The Bush administration last June signed a
10-year defense pact with India outlining expanded two-way defense trade,
missile-defense cooperation plans and increased opportunities for technology
transfers and weapons co-production.
Last year, Pentagon officials gave India a
classified briefing on Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) short-range missile
defense systems built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed and Raytheon Co.
of Waltham, Massachusetts.
