The US has approved $686 million arms package aimed at breathing new life into Pakistan’s aging F-16 fighter jet fleet, a move that could trigger concerns in India.
Announced on December 8, 2025, via a formal notification to Congress from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), the deal includes cutting-edge avionics, secure communication systems, and comprehensive sustainment support to keep these Cold War-era jets in service until the 2040s.
The package breaks down into two main buckets: $37 million for “major defense equipment” and $649 million for the nuts-and-bolts extras like software tweaks, training programs, and logistical backbone.
At the heart of the upgrade program is a batch of 92 Link-16 tactical data link systems.
“These updates will provide more seamless integration and interoperability between the Pakistan Air Force and the U.S. Air Force in combat operations, exercises, and training, and refurbishment will extend the aircraft life through 2040 while addressing critical flight safety concerns.”
“The purchaser has shown a commitment to maintaining its military forces and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”
“The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
The package contains no new aircraft, no long-range standoff weapons (e.g., no AGM-158 JASSM), no advanced air-to-air missiles beyond the existing AIM-120C-5 AMRAAMs already in PAF inventory, and no electronic-attack pods.
It is pure sustainment and safety-of-flight work, plus Link-16 to keep the fleet relevant.
Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth will lead the effort as prime contractor, with support from L3Harris, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman for subsystems. Crucially, the DSCA adds two reassuring notes for Congress and U.S. taxpayers:
- “Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Pakistan.”
- “There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale.”
No Link 22 For Pakistan?
Tactical data links are secure, high-speed digital radio networks that tie together aircraft, ships, ground stations, and command posts into a single, real-time battlefield picture.
They exchange far more than just dots on a map: each platform shares its position, fuel state, weapons load-out, sensor tracks, and — when cleared — even the locations of hostile forces.
Link 16 remains the NATO standard and is fitted to virtually every Western combat aircraft, from the F-16 and Typhoon to the F-35 and Rafale. It is seamlessly networked with airborne early-warning platforms such as the E-3 Sentry, electronic-intelligence collectors like the RC-135 Rivet Joint, and high-altitude drones, including the RQ-4B Global Hawk.
Yet Link 16, now more than three decades old, shows its age. Its omnidirectional transmissions and limited bandwidth make it increasingly vulnerable to modern jamming and direction-finding in contested environments.
In an era dominated by information and situational awareness, sharing only basic friendly positions, fuel, and ordnance data is no longer enough — especially against peer adversaries like Russia and China.
Today’s fifth-generation fighters — the American F-35, Chinese J-20, and Russian Su-57 — go far beyond last century’s Network-Centric Warfare concepts. They employ advanced sensor fusion, automatically blending inputs from infrared search-and-track systems, active electronically scanned arrays, electro-optical pods, and off-board satellite or satellite sources.
The result is a clean, de-conflicted battlespace picture presented to the pilot without manual correlation, dramatically speeding decision-making.
For that level of integration, newer data links are required. The F-35’s stealth-optimized Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL) and NATO’s Link 22 are far better suited to the task.
Link 22, in particular, offers superior anti-jam performance, automated network management, higher throughput, and true beyond-line-of-sight connectivity through HF skywave — delivering gapless coverage out to 1,000 nautical miles or more.
As Taiwanese defence analyst Chieh Chung noted in May 2023, “Link 22 represents a substantial leap over Link 16. It greatly strengthens anti-jamming capabilities, improves command efficiency, and provides significantly faster data transmission.”
Fellow researcher Su Tzu-yun has pointed out that Link 22’s automatic grouping function can generate a full common operational picture, clearly distinguishing friendly, neutral, and enemy forces in real time.
By comparison, some assessments suggest China’s latest XS-3 and DTS-03 data links already outclass Link 16 in both throughput and resilience.
Link 22 is developed and managed by the seven core nations of the NATO Improved Link Eleven (NILE) project: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Operational integration into fighter aircraft remains selective — primarily on late-tranche Eurofighter Typhoons, Rafale (French Navy and Air Force), and, in limited test configurations, the F-35.
Most NATO air forces reserve it for high-end platforms participating in major coalition exercises or Indo-Pacific deployments.
Pakistan, therefore, will receive the proven but older-generation Link 16 with its latest F-16 sustainment package — a deliberate and reassuring choice from Washington’s perspective.
It enhances interoperability with U.S. and CENTCOM forces for counter-terrorism missions without granting Islamabad the cutting-edge, jam-resistant, beyond-line-of-sight networking reserved for America’s closest treaty allies.
Impact Of ‘Upgraded’ F-16 Jets On India
According to IAF Veteran Squadron Leader (retd) Vijainder Thakur, “While I do not believe that the package would significantly alter the balance of power, it will most certainly allow the PAF to maintain its deterrence capability against the IAF.”
“The US has always relied on Pakistan due to its strategic location, as it is the gateway to Afghanistan, the Middle East, and the Central Asian republics. Its importance as a launch pad can’t be downplayed, and Pakistan is equally aware of it. And, in the US, a strong pro-Pakistan lobby benefits due to various deals and aid to Pakistan – they get paid by corrupt Pakistani officials and Generals. The present F-16 deal is also to be looked at from that angle. Overall, it will have little impact on the IAF, except as an irritant. Numerically and qualitatively, IAF is much better placed,” Air Vice Marshal Pranay Sinha (retd) earlier told EurAsian Times.
According to Group Captain Johnson Chacko, KC (retd), “Arms transactions worldwide are business-oriented—money matters. The US has supplied F-16s to Pakistan, so it is honor-bound to maintain them.
By ET Online Desk
