The F-16 deal that Congress would not pay for

Background

The F-16 had been a symbol of the relationship since the 1980s, when Pakistan bought its first fleet; deliveries were frozen by the Pressler sanctions in 1990 and resumed after 2001. In 2015 the two governments reached an understanding on eight more aircraft, partly paid for with US Foreign Military Financing (FMF), a grant programme.

What happened

On 11 February 2016 the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale of eight F-16 Block 52 aircraft, with equipment, training and support, at an estimated cost of $699.04 million; the notification said the aircraft would improve Pakistan's ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations^1,2. India objected. In March the Senate rejected a resolution of disapproval, but the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, used his authority to block the use of FMF for the purchase, citing what he described as Pakistan's duplicity towards the Afghan Taliban^3,4. Under the earlier arrangement Pakistan would have paid about $270 million and US grants the rest; in late April and early May the State Department told Islamabad it would have to pay the full amount itself^4,5.

Pakistan's foreign affairs adviser, Sartaj Aziz, told the Senate in Islamabad and the media that if financing was not provided Pakistan would look for aircraft elsewhere, noting that the Pakistan-Chinese JF-17 could fill the role^5,6. The sale was not concluded.

In August 2016 Defence Secretary Ashton Carter declined to certify to Congress that Pakistan had taken sufficient action against the Haqqani network, so $300 million in Coalition Support Fund reimbursements was withheld - the first time the Obama administration had held back such funds over the Haqqanis⁷. In May the US had also killed the Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in a drone strike in Balochistan, which Pakistan protested as a violation of its sovereignty⁸.

Why it mattered

The episode showed Congress, not just the executive, using leverage over Pakistan, and it signalled the end of the era in which US grants subsidised major Pakistani weapons purchases. For Pakistan it reinforced the case for diversifying suppliers towards China, already its largest arms partner.

Legacy

US security assistance continued to shrink and was largely suspended in 2018. The existing F-16 fleet remained, and its sustainment became the subject of a further controversy in 2022.