Islamabad: Pakistan is likely to receive the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) from the United States, amid improving ties between the two countries, a media report said on Tuesday.
An arms contract recently notified by the United States Department of War (DoW), formerly known as the Department of Defence, lists Pakistan among the buyers for the AIM-120 AMRAAM, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
According to the DoW, Raytheon — the manufacturer of the AMRAAM — was awarded a contract modification worth over USD 41.6 million on a previously awarded contract (FA8675-23-C-0037) based on a firm-fixed-price (P00026) for the production of the missile’s C8 and D3 variants. This modification, which includes Pakistan among its foreign military sales recipients, raises the total value of the contract to more than USD 2.51 billion.
“This contract involves foreign military sales to UK, 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 Turkey,” the notification states. Work on the order is expected to be completed by the end of May 2030.
Although it remains unclear how many, if any, new AMRAAM missiles will be delivered to Pakistan, the development has sparked speculation about potential upgrades to the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) F-16 fleet.
In PAF service, the AMRAAM is compatible exclusively with the F-16 fighter jet. The missile was reportedly used to shoot down the Indian Air Force MiG-21 flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman in February 2019, according to the newspaper.
Notably, PAF Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar visited the US State Department in July, signaling improving military relations between the two countries.
According to the defence publication Quwa, the AIM-120C8 is the export version of the AIM-120D, which is the main AMRAAM variant in US service. The PAF currently operates the earlier C5 variant, 500 units of which were acquired alongside its latest Block 52 F-16s in 2010.
This development comes as relations between Pakistan and the US have shown marked improvement following the four-day military conflict between Pakistan and India in May. Pakistan credited US President Donald Trump for arranging a ceasefire and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. India, however, has maintained that the cessation of hostilities agreement was reached through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.
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https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/pakistan-likely-to-receive-aim-120-amraam-missiles-from-us-amid-improved-bilateral-defence-ties
