Karachi: Pakistan has signed a deal with Turkey to supply 52 Super Mushshak basic trainer aircraft, a minister said.
Talking to media at the 9th International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) 2016, Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer said the deal will strengthen ties between two brotherly countries and result in huge foreign exchange for Pakistan, DunyaNews reported.
"Development of a fleet tanker in collaboration with Turkey, is another example of close relationship in the field of defence production between two countries", Tanveer added.
The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in three batches – in 2017, 2018 and the last batch in 2019.
The indigenously-made Super Mushshak aircraft, is a primary trainer aircraft with a recorded range of 814 km and a maximum speed of 268 km/h. These state-of-the-art training jets, developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), have been in high demand from various African and Middle Eastern nations.
The Minister also announced that another agreement was signed with Ukraine for the upgradation of 200 al-Khalid-1 tanks.
The Al-Khalid or "The Immortal Tank", is a main battle tank developed in a joint venture between China and Pakistan in the 1990s. It is powered by a Ukrainian diesel engine.
Talking to media, Tanveer said Ukraine defence industry is one of the most advanced in the world, which also produced battle tanks for the Russian army.
