April 08, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1429

KARACHI, April 7: The TPS-77 Radar, having valley coverage and long range detection capabilities, was inducted in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in a ceremony held at an Air Force base here on Monday.

Pakistan has acquired the radar from M/s Lockheed Martin, US.

According to a press release issued by the PAF directorate of the media affairs, Karachi, the radar incorporates the state-of-the-art technology and belongs to the latest generation.

“TheTPS-77 is the only radar developed till date in the world with the long range detection and valley coverage capabilities and with the induction of these systems, Pakistan will gain the capability to monitor the movement of drug traffickers across the borders,” it said.

An unspecified number of the radar was formally handed over to the PAF at the ceremony, where the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, was the chief guest. The ceremony was attended by senior US officials and Lockheed executives, besides principal staff officers from the Air Headquarters and PAF officials.

The PAF chief described the occasion “yet another important milestone in PAF modernisation plan.”—APP