primary contract. This decision has been justified after the
offer proposed by the US was analyzed - it only concerned the
provision of extra maintenance and operational capabilities
for the F-16s and C-130s. The cost of the offer as such, with a
price-tag of 1.1 bn. USD, was considered to be too high. Hence
the rejection.
Analyzing the scope of the agreement, two gaps can be
easily spotted, making the scope of spending associated
with the introduction of the jets plausibly expand. The first
one is the resignation from the procurement of air-to-air and
air-to-surface weapons. This could be explained by the fact
that the F-35A is compatible with the armament used by the
F-16s. Considering, however, the almost doubled number of
airframes, it needs to be said that the procurement of another
batch of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons would not be
possible to be avoided.
Another factor that suggests that the PAF would need to bear
the extra cost is the necessity to carry out adaptation works
at two air bases that will be designated to host the F-35A.
AVIATION
