US defence firm to sell advanced air-to-air missiles to Pakistan by 2030

The US defence manufacturer Raytheon will supply Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) to Pakistan after the country was added to an updated list of buyers under a modified contract, official documents have revealed.

These missiles are used with the F-16 fighter jets operated by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

According to a September 30 press release from the US Department of Defense, Raytheon received a $41.6 million firm-fixed-price modification to an earlier contract for the production of enhanced C8 and D3 variants of the AMRAAM. The update increases the overall value of the agreement from $2.47 billion to $2.5 billion.

The statement added that production work would be carried out in Tucson, Arizona, with completion expected by May 30, 2030. It confirmed that the modified contract includes foreign military sales to several countries, among them Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, Finland, Australia, Romania, Qatar, Oman, South Korea, Greece, Switzerland, Portugal, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Spain, and Turkey.

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Pakistan’s name was not part of the May 7 contract for the same missile system, making its inclusion in the latest update noteworthy.

The AMRAAMs are the same class of missiles reportedly used during Operation Swift Retort in February 2019, when the Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian Air Force jets that had violated Pakistani airspace over Kashmir.

In January 2007, Pakistan had also purchased 700 AMRAAM missiles, marking what was then the largest international order of its kind for the US-made weapon.