New Delhi/Washington: The US has no plans to sell the new Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) to Pakistan, the country’s embassy in New Delhi has clarified.
Referring to a recently amended contract, the US has said that the modification relates only to sustainment and spare parts support and does not involve any delivery of new weapons.
In a statement, the US Embassy said the Department of War’s September 30 announcement referred to “an amendment to an existing Foreign Military Sales contract for sustainment and spares for several countries, including Pakistan.”
“Contrary to false media reports, no part of this referenced contract modification is for deliveries of new AMRAAMs to Pakistan …. This does not include an upgrade to any of Pakistan’s current capabilities,” the embassy said.
After the modification, media reports had spoken of Pakistan being included in the list of countries to which these missiles would be sold. A report was also published on this by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper.
The official release had announced that Raytheon Co, based in Tucson, Arizona, received a USD 41 million modification to an existing AMRAAM production contract, taking the total value to over USD 2.5 billion.
According to the original Department of War statement, the contract involves foreign military sales to several countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Australia, Qatar, Oman, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Kuwait, Turkiye, and Pakistan, and is expected to be completed by May 2030.
While the announcement listed Pakistan among the participating countries, the US Embassy has now confirmed that the inclusion relates to ongoing sustainment support, not to new missile deliveries.
In 2007, Pakistan had purchased around 700 AMRAAMs for its F-16 fleet, which was at that time the largest international order for the air-to-air missile system.
Reports of a new supply deal emerged weeks after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir met with former US President Donald Trump in September.
These reports also raised a political storm in India with the Congress calling it a diplomatic failure of the Modi government.
