PERU GETS MORE US AID IN DRUG-SMUGGLING BATTLE

Stepping up the war on drugs, the US government is preparing to restart its
'Air Bridge Denial' (ABD) programme more than a year after an aircraft
carrying civilian missionaries was accidentally shot down in April 2001.
The new measures will include the transfer of sophisticated surveillance
aircraft and technology to the Peruvian Air Force (FAP), which will now
conduct all the actual operations that are expected to restart by year-end.
The involvement of US personnel in the air-intercept programme was ended
after the April 2001 accident.

To date, two A-37B Dragonfly counter-insurgency aircraft have been
delivered to the FAP under a 'lend in use' agreement that stipulates that
the FAP will use the aircraft to intercept aircraft suspected of smuggling
drugs. The aircraft will replace an A-37B lost in March 1998 and another
lost in August 2001, both during interception flights. Additionally, FAP
officers are receiving training on specially modified Cessna 550 Citation
II medium-range utility aircraft. That platform has been upgraded with a
forward-looking infra-red radar as well as communications and signals
intelligence equipment that will be used to direct the FAP's A-37Bs and
EMB-312 Tucano aircraft. US Drug Enforcement Agency personnel previously
operated this Citation II until the April 2001 incident, following which
Peruvian and US authorities agreed to use only Peruvian personnel.

To further assist the Peruvian authorities intercept narcotics before they
reach the US mainland, Washington has increased its anti-narcotics aid to
Peru from $50 million to $156 million. The allocation includes $20 million
to overhaul 10 Peruvian A-37Bs and the acquisition of eight Pratt & Whitney
Canadian PT 6A-25C engines for the FAP's EMB-312 Super Tucano trainer
aircraft. Work on six of the 10 A-37Bs is complete. The remaining aircraft
are expected to return to service before the end of the year.