Free Republic

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...

The Air Force grounded more than half of its F-16D fighter jets after it found structural cracks between the front and rear pilot seats in several aircraft, according to a statement released Tuesday in Washington. The cracks in the canopy longeron sill, a thin strip of material that fastens to the fuselage, were found in 82 of the Air Force’s 157 F-16D aircraft. The Air Force ordered an inspection of all F-16Ds after it began finding cracks on the planes during routine post-flight inspections. The service finished its inspections Aug. 18. The Air Force F-16 Program Office and Lockheed Martin...

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...

Americans will love their toys By: Matt Gilson, Staff Writer Americans love toys; we can’t get enough of them. With the help of our enormous defense budget, we’ve created quite a few. Of course being the entrepreneurs we are we often times find ways of selling them. Despite recent history, the Bush administration has decided once again that the best reward for help on the war with terror is to sell more weapons. This time we’ve sold F-16s to Pakistan. Good for them, right? They were the launch platform for our military in Operation: Iraqi Freedom. Giving them weapons will...