US Navy places order for nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for Pakistan

Washington : The United States Navy has awarded a 170 million dollar contract to Bell Helicopter to manufacture nine AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters for Pakistan. Under the Foreign Military Sales Program, the combat helicopters will be manufactured and delivered to Pakistan. “Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $170,173,188 will be obligated at time of award. The contract awarded for the manufacture and delivery of nine AH-1Z aircraft and nine auxiliary fuel kits for the government of Pakistan is expected to be completed in September 2018”, Dawn quoted the US Department of Defense statement as saying, adding that the Naval Air Systems Command is contracting the activity for the Pakistani government. According to reports, the Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine combat chopper based on the previous SuperCobra model developed for the US Marine Corps. It has a top speed of 420 kilometers per hour and a range of 610 kilometers. The U.S. State Department last April had approved the Foreign Military Sale to Pakistan for the AH-1Z Viper Attack Helicopters and AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $952 million. The United States had earlier in the year approved the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets of $700million to Pakistan saying that sale was made in order to improve Pakistan’s precision strike capability.The US administration in document to its lawmakers told that its Foreign Military Funding (FMF) to Islamabad would focus on seven priority areas identified and agreed to with the government of Pakistan.