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Pakistan failed to move forward with the purchase of eight U.S.-made F-16C/D Block-52 fighter aircraft following a dispute over financing, Dawn reported on May 28. According to an unidentified source Pakistan failed to provide a so-called Letter of Acceptance for the procurement of the eight fighter jets by May 24 and the offer expired. “Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired,” the source told Dawn. U.S. lawmakers have been blocking financing for the eight F-16s under the so-called Foreign Military Financing (FMF), with the result that Pakistan would...

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A force to be reckoned with Posted on 9 August 2010 in Defence The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) or Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, is one of the largest air arms in the region and is also one of the longest established. Formed in 1930 as the Egyptian Army Air Force, it became fully independent in 1937. Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet...

HAMPTON — — It isn't exactly a fair fight, but the Air Force doesn't mind. This week, U.S. fighter jets are dueling about 90 miles off the coast of Hampton Roads in scenarios that pit F-22 Raptors from Langley Air Force Base against older F-16C fighters visiting from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

Faced with delays in the F-35 program, and the aging of its F-16 and F-15 fleet, the U.S. Air Force will refurbish older aircraft, to keep them going until the F-35s show up. The F-35 delays have been growing over the last few years, and the air force was already developing a refurbishment program for its F-15 fighters, most of which are over 20 years old. This will extend their useful life from 8,000 flight hours, to 12,000 hours. The F-16C, which was originally designed for a service life of 4,000 hours in the air, took advantage of advances in...