• Enhancements will improve collaboration between two air forces.
• DSCA letter says sale will not alter military balance in region.
• Lockheed Martin named principal contractor for F-16 support.
  

The United States has approved the sale of advanced technology and support services worth $686 million for Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet, according to a letter from the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) to Congress dated December 8.

The package covers Link-16 data link systems, cryptographic gear, avionics upgrades, training, and wide-ranging logistical support. The DSCA says the decision aligns with Washington’s broader strategic aims, stating the sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”

The letter notes that the upgrades are intended to modernise Pakistan’s Block-52 and Mid-Life Upgrade F-16s and address operational safety requirements. According to the letter, the sale will “maintain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future threats by updating and refurbishing its Block-52 and Mid Life Upgrade F-16 fleet.”

The DSCA adds that the enhancements will improve collaboration between the two air forces, saying the updated systems will deliver “seamless integration and interoperability between the Pakistan Air Force and the US Air Force in combat operations, exercises, and training,” while the refurbishment will extend the aircraft’s life through 2040 and address critical safety issues.

The document also states that Pakistan is prepared to integrate the systems into its forces, noting the country “has shown a commitment to maintaining its military forces and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”

Addressing regional sensitivities, the DSCA says the sale “will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”

Lockheed Martin, based in Fort Worth, Texas, will act as the principal contractor. The agency confirms the implementation will not require additional US government or contractor personnel in Pakistan and stresses there will be “no adverse impact on US defence readiness as a result of this proposed sale.”

Of the total amount, $37 million covers major defence equipment, while $649 million relates to other items. The MDE component includes 92 Link-16 systems and six inert Mk-82 500-lb bomb bodies, which will be used solely for weapons integration testing.

Link-16 is a secure, real-time communications network for sharing tactical data among US and allied forces. It is resistant to electronic jamming and, the DSCA notes, “provides the warfighter key theatre functions such as surveillance, identification, air control, weapons engagement coordination, and direction for all services and allied forces.”

The remainder of the package includes non-MDE items such as AN/APQ-10C Simple Key Loaders and the AN/APX-126 Advanced Identification Friend or Foe system, which enables identification of hostile and friendly aircraft.

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s Election Commission will announce on Thursday the date of parliamentary elections scheduled for February, a commission official said, after a student-led uprising toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.

Bangladesh has been governed by an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus since August last year, when long-serving Hasina fled to India in the face of deadly street protests against her government.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin will announce the election schedule in a national broadcast at 6pm (1200 GMT), senior Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters.

A national referendum on implementing the so-called ‘July Charter’, a state reform plan drafted in the aftermath of the unrest, is also expected to be held on the same day.

The charter proposes wide-ranging changes to state institutions, including curbing executive powers, strengthening the independence of the judiciary and election authorities, and preventing the misuse of law-enforcement agencies.

Former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party is widely seen as the frontrunner in the upcoming polls, competing alongside the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which has returned to electoral politics after the interim government eased restrictions.

Jamaat, Bangladesh’s biggest Islamic party, could not contest elections after a 2013 court ruling that its registration as a political party conflicted with the country’s secular constitution. Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority country of 173 million people.

Hasina’s Awami League, which has been barred from contesting the election, has warned of unrest if the ban is not lifted.

The United States has seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas and pushing oil prices higher.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever, actually, and other things are happening,” Trump said, reiterating pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down. When asked about the fate of the oil, Trump replied: “We keep it, I guess.”

In response, the Venezuelan government condemned the move as “blatant theft” and an “act of international piracy,” vowing to defend its sovereignty, natural resources, and national dignity, and to raise the matter with international bodies.

This marks the first known action against an oil tanker since Trump ordered a military buildup in the region.

The US has previously targeted suspected drug vessels, raising legal and diplomatic concerns.

US Attorney-General Pam Bondi confirmed on X that the FBI, Homeland Security, Coast Guard, and military executed a seizure warrant on the crude oil tanker, used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.

A brief video posted by Bondi showed helicopters approaching the vessel and armed personnel rappelling onto it.

While US officials did not publicly name the vessel, British maritime risk firm Vanguard identified it as the Skipper. The tanker had departed Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose between December 4–5 after loading roughly 1.1 million barrels of Merey heavy crude, according to satellite and PDVSA data.

The seizure affected oil markets, with Brent crude rising 27 cents to $62.21 per barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate gaining 21 cents to $58.46 per barrel.

Maduro addressed a military commemoration on Wednesday but did not directly comment on the tanker’s seizure.

Impact on oil?

Venezuela exported more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil last month, the third-highest monthly average so far this year, as PDVSA imported more naphtha to dilute its extra-heavy oil output.

Even as Washington increased pressure on Maduro, the U.S. had not previously moved to interfere with oil flows.

Venezuela has had to deeply discount its crude to its main buyer China, due to growing competition with sanctioned oil from Russia and Iran.

“This is just yet another geopolitical/sanctions headwind hammering spot supply availability,” Rory Johnston, an analyst with Commodity Context, said.

“Seizing this tanker further inflames those prompt supply concerns but also doesn’t immediately change the situation fundamentally because these barrels were already going to be floating around for a while,” Johnston said.

Chevron, which partners with PDVSA, said its operations in the country were normal and continuing without disruption.

The US oil major, responsible for all Venezuelan crude exports to the United States, last month increased crude exports to the US to 150,000 bpd from 128,000 bpd in October.

Increasing pressure on Maduro

Maduro has alleged that the US military build-up is aimed at overthrowing him and gaining control of the OPEC nation’s vast oil reserves.

Since early September, the Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people.

Experts say the strikes may be illegal.

There has been little or no proof made public that the boats are carrying drugs or that it was necessary to blow them out of the water rather than stop them, seize their cargo and question those on board.

Concerns about the attacks on the boats increased this month after reports that the commander overseeing one of the operations ordered a second strike that killed two survivors.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published on Wednesday found that a broad swath of Americans oppose the US military’s campaign of deadly strikes on the boats, including about one-fifth of Trump’s Republicans.

In a sweeping strategy document published last week, Trump said his administration’s foreign policy focus would be on reasserting its dominance in the Western Hemisphere.