ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to sign a deal next month for the sale of MFI-17 Super Mushshak aircraft to Turkey.

“This deal is in last stages of finalisation and is going to be signed very soon,” the Ministry of Defence Production (MoDP) said in statement on Friday.

The deal is likely to be signed on Aug 18 on the margins of a ceremony for handing over to Pakistan Navy a Fleet Tanker. It has been built in collaboration with Turkey at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW).

Either Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim or President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might be visiting Pakistan to attend the ceremony.

The MoDP did not disclose how many Super Mushshak aircraft Turkey was intending to buy, but a well-informed source said the number could be close to 30.

Super Mushshak is a light weight single-engine aircraft with 2/3 seats and can be used for both training and wide range of military missions, including forward air control; forward area support; reconnaissance; artillery fire observation; camouflage inspection; border patrol; and target flying and target towing for training of ground units. It is produced at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra.

Other countries using Mushshak aircraft include Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and South Africa.

A Turkish technical team visited Pakistan last month for the evaluation of the aircraft and recommended its purchase.

The deal, the source said, would lay the basis for long-term defence cooperation with Turkey. The two countries are currently pursuing two other major cooperation projects.

An agreement for the midlife upgrade of Khalid-Class submarines was signed by the two countries last month. The accord was described as “an important defence project” for enhancing operational capabilities of existing submarines of the Pakistani Navy.

Additionally, they have together built the Fleet Tanker.

“The new tanker displaces 15,600 tonnes, is about 155m in length and will be equipped with replenishment-at-sea rigs and a helicopter flight deck. It is to be powered with a conventional all-diesel machinery plant, driving controllable pitch propellers, and will be able to achieve a speed of 20 kt,” according to Jane’s Defence Weekly.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2016