US Clarifies AMRAAM Contract with Pakistan Quwa Premium

On 10 October, the United States Department of War (DoW) / Department of Defense (DoD) clarified that an earlier adjustment to an existing contract for the production and sustainment of AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) did not include the sale of new missiles to Pakistan. Rather, the adjustment was for the sustainment of the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) existing AIM-120C5 stocks.

Earlier, on 30 September, the United States Department of War (DoW)/Department of Defense (DoD) had apparently added Pakistan to a list of buyers for the Raytheon (RTX) AIM-120C8/D3 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

Pakistan’s inclusion came through a $41.68 million adjustment (P00026) to a previously awarded contract (FA8675-23-C-0037) now worth $2.51 billion for AIM-120C8/D to recent NATO and non-NATO customers of the missile.

Quwa had theorized that the adjustment could be an indicator of the US approving the sale of new AIM-120C8/D3s to the PAF, but this is not the case with this specific contract.

Under the Peace Drive deal in 2005, the PAF acquired 500 AIM-120C5 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, which it utilized operationally in 2019 by shooting down an Indian Air Force MiG-21bis.

The AIM-120C8 is the export variant of the AIM-120D, the current mainstay AMRAAM variant used by the United States. Raytheon (RTX) began testing the C8/D platform in 2023 and the variant has seen orders from a large assortment of U.S. allies and partners. 

While this contract does not point to a new deal with Pakistan, the PAF is certainly interested in upgrading its existing Block-52 units. Ultimately, one of its main goals is to upgrade each of its mainstay aircraft with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. 

It is worth noting that the PAF’s Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Zaheer Ahmed Babar, visited the U.S. State Department in July.