US adds Pakistan, Saudi Arabia to new air-to-air missile contract

By Staff Reporter

ISLAMABAD: The US Department of War has included Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in a new contract for the supply of US-made air-to-air missiles, and separately approved a deal to upgrade communications systems on Saudi fighter jets, according to an official statement on its website.

In a Sept. 30 bulletin, the department said it had awarded Raytheon Missiles & Defense a $41.68 million modification “to provide production support for the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile,” a weapon designed to enable fighter aircraft to destroy enemy planes at long range.

The announcement listed a wide range of US allies and partners receiving the system through the Foreign Military Sales program. “This contract involves foreign military sales to United Kingdom, Poland, Pakistan, Germany, Finland, Australia, Romania, Qatar, Oman, Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Japan, Slovakia, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Norway, Spain, Kuwait, Finland, Sweden, Taiwan, Lithuania, Israel, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkiye,” the Department of War statement read.

The release did not specify how many missiles each country would receive or when deliveries would begin, details that are typically disclosed later through government-to-government filings. The contract funds ongoing production of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), which is used by more than 40 countries. Pakistan employs the system on its F-16 fighter jets, while Saudi Arabia operates it on F-15 aircraft.

Pakistan’s defence ministry had not issued any public comment on the latest contract listings as of Tuesday.

Both awards reflect Washington’s continuing defence cooperation with partners in the Middle East and South Asia. While Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are regularly listed in such multi-nation programs, the Department of War rarely releases individual country breakdowns in initial contract statements. The Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile has been a cornerstone of US and allied air defence for over three decades, capable of striking airborne targets at ranges exceeding 30 kilometers depending on the variant.

The statement added that the modification brought the total cumulative face value of the contract to $2.5 billion from $2.47bn.The May 7 contract for the AMRAAM deal had not included Pakistan as among the list of buyers for the missile. The same missiles were reportedly used in February 2019, when the PAF conducted Operation Swift Retort and shot down two Indian Air Force (IAF) jets intruding into Pakistani airspace over Kashmir. Pakistan had bought 700 AMRAAM in January 2007 in what was the largest international order for the weapon at the time.

The development comes amid improving ties between Pakistan and the US of late, it seems that Islamabad and Washington are in lockstep. The positive signals, which began emanating soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, seem to be turning into full-blown bonhomie with Pakistan entering a new phase in its economic and strategic partnership with the US.

From acknowledging Pakistan’s counterterror cooperation in the arrest of an IS-Khorasan operative to claiming credit for stopping a nuclear war in South Asia, the country has perhaps featured more in this US president’s day-to-day media interactions than any past ‘commander-in-chief’. After securing what seems to be a major discount in tariff negotiations, attracting US investor interest in its oil and mineral reserves and signalling that its currency market is receptive to digital assets and cryptocurrencies, Pakistan seems to be in the driving seat as far as South Asia is concerned.