The British Royal Air Force (RAF) will provide upgraded training to its Bahraini counterpart (BRAF) personnel, official Bahraini sources announced Tuesday. In the meantime, Bahrain’s King, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on the third day of his official visit to the United Kingdom, said Manama is seeking to acquire British Aerospace-made Hawk aircrafts, for the advanced training of Bahraini pilots, Gulf News reported Wednesday.
The negotiations came during Monday's meeting between Sheikh Hamad and the British Secretary of State for Defense, Geoffrey Hoon in London. "They reviewed bilateral relations, particularly in defense and military spheres," stated the official Bahraini news agency BNA.
Additionally, the two sides "reviewed the positive steps adopted by the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) and the British Defense Ministry, in the field of modernizing the Bahraini Royal Air Force," added BNA, pointing out that an Air Training Unit will be set up in Bahrain Britain’s assistance.
This unit represents the final stage of a plan aimed to develop air training in the BRAF, which was previously agreed upon between BDF and the British Defense Ministry, the news agency explained.
Later on, Sheikh Hamad visited the Farnborough International Air Show 2002, which is currently taking place in the United Kingdom. Sheikh Hamad, who was accompanied by the Duke of York, Prince Andrew and Gordon Page, President of the Society of British Aerospace Companies, expressed Bahrain's "wish to cooperate with the British Royal Air Force in the field of training, in addition to the negotiations for acquiring hawk aircrafts for the advanced training of pilots."
According to Tuesday’s edition of The Times of London, the order is "understood to involve between 12 and 24 aircraft." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
