By Doug Cameron
The State Department has approved Pakistan's request to buy
almost $1 billion in U.S.-made attack helicopters, missiles and
other equipment aimed at fighting insurgents in the country's
mountainous north and west regions.
U.S. defense companies are engaged in a three-way tussle with
Russia and China to sell weapons to Pakistan, complicated by the
need to avoid upsetting neighbor India and its even larger arms'
import market.
The Pentagon said Monday that Pakistan had requested 15 AH-1Z
Viper helicopters made by the Bell arm of Textron Inc., as well as
1,000 Hellfire missiles produced by Lockheed Martin Corp. and a
host of other communications and training equipment with a total
value of $952 million, according to a notification to Congress,
which needs to approve any sale.
Any deal would be structured as a foreign military sale between
the two governments.
"This proposed sale of helicopters and weapon systems will
provide Pakistan with military capabilities in support of its
counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations in South Asia,"
said the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees U.S.
military exports.
Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com
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