Islamabad : The US has decided to provide Ah-1Z Viper attack helicopters to Pakistan to sharpen up its counter-terrorism efforts.
The Department of Defence has already awarded nearly $58 million in contract to Bell Helicopter for providing the choppers to Pakistan as part of a larger $581 million deal, most of which goes to the American Navy, the Dawn reported. Pakistan had requested the sale of 15 AH-1Z helicopters, it is not clear how many of them have been signed for at this stage. Some of these initial helicopters will be delivered by the end of August 2018. A notification by the US Department of Defence stated that 10 per cent ($ 57.9 million) of the overall contract value covered the sale to the government of Pakistan which suggests that this is an initial deal for the first two helicopters only, with contracts for the remaining 13 (plus spares and support) to follow.
Sajjad Hussain
