Turkey To Modernize Pakistani F-16 Fleet For $75 Million

Turkey will modernize the Pakistani Air Force’s F-16 fighter fleet for $75 million.

A senior official of the Istanbul-based Foreign Economic Relations Board (DIEK) was quoted as saying by Tribune on Saturday that both countries have struck a deal in an aviation project under which some Pakistani fighter planes have already been flown to Turkey.

Volkan Yuzer, Asia-Pacific regional coordinator at DIEK, said Pak-Turkish multi-faceted relations were growing in the defence sector. He added Turkey was already manufacturing engines for F-16 jets in addition to making some of their spare parts.

According to the website of Turkish Aerospace industries (TAI), the Pakistan Air Force had awarded the tender of modernisation of its 41 F-16 aircraft to TAI in June 2009. The upgrade of jets started in the last quarter of 2010 when the first three aircraft were flown to Turkey.