Tanzania, March 19 -- Pakistan grapples with an ailing economy, it has taken to raising funds by selling its defence equipment especially its inventory of vintage aircraft.

As a general point, it must be noted that arms sales are rarely a purely commercial endeavour.

The transfer of weapons is in significant part politically driven, perhaps by the influence exerted by powerful states over weaker ones, or the financial and/or economic benefits afforded by some vendors in comparison to others.

Earlier this year Pakistan announced the phasing out of its ZDK-03 Karakoram Eagle AEWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control System) which was inducted into the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) as the first Chinese aircraft equipped with an early warning ...