Article Posted on : - Apr 30, 2010

A P-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft. A US Navy Photo.

ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan will be receiving two refurbished P-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft from the United States on Friday to help boost the country's maritime security capability.

Pakistani officials will receive the maritime surveillance aircraft in Jacksonville, Florida, during a ceremony to be attended by Vice Admiral Shahid Iqbal, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Navy and Islamabad's ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani.

The aircraft are part of a batch of seven P-3C Orion aircraft to be supplied to Pakistan by the US.

The aircraft are being upgraded by aviation major Lockheed Martin.

A spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington said the supply of these aircraft reflects the growing cooperation between the US and Pakistani navies, which have been working closely in stemming illegal activities at sea.

As a major non-NATO ally of the US, Pakistan will also receive the frigate McInerney later this summer under the foreign military funding programme.

The warship, to be renamed the PNS Alamgir, will sail to Pakistan early next year after being refurbished according to the Pakistan Navy's requirements.