PAKISTAN SEEKS U.S. EARLY WARNING DEFENSE GEAR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640006-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: October 12, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640006-4
ARTICLE APPEARED
Cl PAGE
NEW YORK TIMES
12 October 1984
Pakistan Seeks U.S. Early Warning Defense Gear
By BERNARD GWERTZMAN
Spemal to The New Ycgt Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 ? Pakistan
has raised with the United States the
possibility of buying an American air-
borne early warning system to help de-
fend it_s borders against raids by air-
craft based in Afghanistan, Reagan Ad-
mstration officials said today.
The American officials said the Ad-
ministration had agreed to help Paki-
stan improve its air defenses, but no
decisions had been made in Washing-
ton yet on the Pakistan desire for an
airborne early warning system.
"We recognize," one State Depart-
ment official said, that the Pakistanis
have "serious problems with the Sovi-
ets on their border, and we have to be
cautious now we approach this thing."
Pakistan's efforts to improve its air
defenses against Afghanistan have
risen in recent months after a series of
attacks in August by planes and artil-
lery based in Afghanistan. Foreign
Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan of
Palrist:Ln told the United Nations Gen-
eral Assembly on Oct. 2 that the Soviet
military presence in Afghanistan had
created a "direct and tangible danger"
to his country.
All-Weather Turboprop Plane
He said that in August 54 people were
killed in Pakistan by shells and bombs
from Afghanistan, and at the end of
September an additional 32 people
.were killed. The Pakistani Govern-
ment has said that about 200 people
have been killed since the beginning of
the year. Soviet troops went into Af-
ghanistan in December 1979 to help the
Marxist Government in Kabul, the Af-
ghan capital, crush an uprising by Is-
lamic tribesmen.
- Administration officials said the Pa-
kistanis were most interested in the
Grumman E-2C, known as the Hawk-
eye, which is an all-weather two-engine
turboprop plane equipped with radar
equipment that can detect aerial tar-
gets 300 miles away, and which can
also keep track of sea and land targets.
The Hawkeye was originally built for
the United States Navy but it has been
sold to Israel, Egypt, Japan and Singa-
pore, where it is used over land as well
as at sea.
Like the Airborne Warning and Con-
trol System planes used by the Air
Force, the Hawkeye operates in con-
junction with fighter planes, which it
can direct to targets. The Pakistanis-
would like an airborne early warning
system to help guide its advanced F-16
fighters.
21 F-16's Delivered
The Reagan Administration has so
far supplied Pakistan with 21 F-16
fighters out of a package of 40 agreed to
in 1981. Four more are to be delivered
by the end of next month, and the rest
will be provided in phases through the
end of March 1986.
To help the Pakistanis pay for the
F-16's, the United States is providing
Pakistan with $1.6 billion in military
loans over a six-year period, in addition
to $1.6 billion in economic aid.
Given the 1,300-mile frontier between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, the F-16's
cannot be used effectively without
some kind of airborne systems, the Ad-
ministration officials said. But the
Hawkeye might be too costly for the
Pakistanis, one State Department offi-
cial said. In addition, it contains
highly-classified equipment that would_
have to be cleared before the plane
could be sold to Pakistan, a longtime
American ally in South Asia.
Another reason for caution, officials
said, is concern that India, whose rela-
tions with Pakistan have been sharply
strained in recent months, nof overre-
act to the sale of Hawkeyes, and launch ?
an attack on Pakistan.
India Alarmed at Purchases
The Indians have repeatedly said
they were convinced Pakistan buys ad-
vanced military equipment, such as
the F-16's, not to counter a potential
Soviet threat from Afghanistan but for
possible use against India.
In recent months, as India's troubles
with its Sikhs has worsened, some In-
dians have accused the Pakistanis of
fomenting the trouble. This, in turn,
has created apprehension in Pakistan
that India might attack.
Secretary of State George P. Shultz
has in recent weeks urged caution on
both the Pakistanis and the Indians,
State Department officials said.
Foreign Minister Yaqub Khan has
been in Washington for the last few
days, and met today with Michael H.
Armacost, the Under Secretary of
State for Political Affairs, to discuss
his Government's concerns, State De-
partment officials said.
A Possible Solution
One department aide said a possible
solution might be to use electronic
equipment similar to that already used
in the EC-130 version of the plane to
modify some Lockheed C-130's, which
are normally rargo planes.
In recent years the United States has
sent Awacs planes to Egypt and the
Sudan for brief missions to aid in air
defense. But State Department offi-
cials said the Pakistanis have said they
do not want American planes to be
based in Pakistan because of a desire
to maintain some distance from the
Americans and to avoid raising the Af-
ghanistan problem into a superpower.
duel.
The conflict in Afghanistan between
the Soviet Union and Soviet-backed
forces against the various Afghan
resistance groups has continued with-
out abatement. Officials here were un-
able to confirm reports that a cease-
fire agreement had been reached be-
tween Soviet and rebel forces in the -
Panjsher Valley, the scene of Soviet at--
tacks in recent months, that included
the use of heavy bombers. -5- -
Speaking with reporters at breakfast_:
today, Mr. Yaqub Khan said the bomb-'
ings from Afghanistan in recent weeks':
had increased "with an intensity and
frequency not seen before."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640006-4