WASHINGTON, May 22: W Two Reagan administration officials told Congress today Pakistan has asked to purchase three advanced American radar aircraft, known as AWACS, to defend against attacks from planes flying from Afghanistan.
Edward Gnehm, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, told the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific affairs that Pakistan urgently needed the planes to meet a growing threat from Afghanistan and urged Congressional support.
“There is no better time than now to demonstrate unequivocally to the Soviet Union that its aggression in Southwest Asia must cease and the prompt withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan must be achieved”, he said.
Pakistan has long sought AWACS to ward off air incursions from Afghanistan, where 110,000 Soviet troops are fighting in support of the government against U.S. backed rebels. Three million Afghan rebels have fled into Pakistan to escape the fighting, which began after Soviet troops intervened in 1979.
Gneham and Robert Peck, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State said Pakistan had requested the purchase of three E3A airborne and warning control systems (A WACS) planes, but the administration had not yet decided what kind of system to provide to Islamabad and on what terms.
Subcommittee Chairman Steve Solarz, a democrat, said he had political and strategic concerns about providing the planes to Pakistan and said there was serious doubt as to whether they would prove effective.
India, Pakistan’s Chief rival on the subcontinent, is fiercely opposed to AWAGS being introduced to Pakistan, contending that they could be used against New Delhi.
The officials said Pakistan had conducted a test with another radar system, the E2C Hawkeye, but had decided the AWACS would be more effective. They said there was no need to test the AWACS because its capabilities were well-known.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 29, 1987
