With the boat loaded with members of Penn's entourage, including a personal photographer, one bystander taunted the actor: "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"
05-Sep-2005
Islamabad, 1 Sept. (AKI/DAWN) - The Pakistan navy has received eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft free of charge from the United States. The US has also offered Perry-class frigate warships for sale to Pakistan, according to the Pakistani chief of the naval staff Shahid Karimullah. The sale offer "has been made by the US Navy" to the Pakistan Navy, Karimullah said, adding that the price of the frigates will be negotiated once the US Congress gives its approval.
Named after an American naval hero, Oliver Hazard Perry, the frigate warhips were designed by the US in the 1970s as general-purpose escort vessels. Although some Perry-class vessels are slated to remain in US service for years, many others are being de-commissioned and transferred to other countries where they are being modernised.
The naval chief said Pakistan was also acquiring four P-22 F frigates from China. He said three of these frigates will be built in China and the fourth in Pakistan. These frigates will form part of the Pakistan Navy’s fleet by 2013. He said that since the delivery of the first Chinese frigate was to take some three years, a good stop-gap arrangement could be made by acquiring some Perry-class frigates, which were not as efficient as the Chinese P-22-Fs.
He said the Pakistan navy, which was currently weak in terms of units, will emerge as a balanced and powerful force. Drawing a comparison with India, he said the eastern neighbour had 21 submarines, compared to the 5 of Pakistan.
Answering a question, he said at some stage Pakistan will have to develop its own nuclear submarine, as no country was ready to provide them to Islamabad.
As for the 3-PC Orion aircraft, Admiral Shahid Karimullah said that the US navy had signed the transfer document making the aircraft a property of the Pakistan government. With the induction of eight P-3Cs, the navy’s existing fleet of P-3Cs will grow to 10 aircraft. The two P-3Cs already with the navy are currently undergoing an overhaul in Pakistan with US assistance and were expected to be operational by the end of this year.
P-3C Orion is a long-range maritime patrol aircraft with an endurance of about 18 hours, which can carry Harpoon missiles. The eight aircraft now being inducted will be fitted with modern avionics and mission systems by Lockheed Martin, the manufacturers of the P-3C Orion. The expenses in modifying the aircraft avionics systems will be met mostly by US military aid.
The naval chief termed the aircraft acquisition a significant achievement. They would augment the Pakistan navy’s capability to actively monitor its areas of interest at sea and add a new dimension to the offensive punch of the Naval fleet, he said.
Admiral Karimullah said provision of these aircraft was indicative of the strong Pakistan-US relations and hoped that the defence cooperation between the navies of the two countries would further increase in times to come.
The first aircraft will be delivered to Pakistan in December followed by another in January-February 2006.
(AKI/DAWN)