Posted on 01/16/2014 9:32:20 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Paris — The European Eurofighter consortium has signed a draft agreement to sell 28 of its fighter planes to Kuwait, online French newspaper La Tribune reported on Thursday.
Of the 28 outline sales, which are not yet binding, four are covered by options to purchase, the report said.
The report, citing various sources, said that Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italian group Finmeccanica which is a member of the consortium, had obtained Kuwait's signature on the agreement a few days before Brazil announced that it had chosen to buy Gripen fighter planes made by Swedish company Saab.
Brazil chose the Gripen in preference to the Rafale made by French group Dassault Aviation and the F/A-18 Super Hornet plane made by US group Boeing.
Alenia Aermacchi is responsible alongside British aerospace and defence equipment group BAE Systems for promoting the Eurofighter Typhoon which is in competition for the Kuwait contract with the Rafale 3 and the Super Hornet.
The report said that if Kuwait did choose to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon, the decision would be a surprise given "the extent to which Kuwait is under American influence since the first Gulf war" in 1990-1991 to counter the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.
Kuwait, which is already equipped with US-built F/A-18C/D Hornet fighter planes, wants to develop its fleet of fighters, the report said.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
This aviation journalist needs to keep up with the times and get acquainted with Obama's post-American world.
“This aviation journalist needs to keep up with the times and get acquainted with Obama’s post-American world.”
There are countries where the leaders can think for more than 4 years. Saudi Arabia already has a fleet of Eurofighters. Kuwait is a rather small country so in case of emergency Kuwait’s fighter could operate seamlessly from bases in Saudi Arabia.
‘The report said that if Kuwait did choose to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon, the decision would be a surprise given “the extent to which Kuwait is under American influence since the first Gulf war” in 1990-1991 to counter the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.”
How quick the ungrateful b@$%^rds forget!
It’s not that they’ve forgotten. You can’t plan to fight the last war. In the future they know they can’t count on the support of the Americans. Kuwait and Saudia Arabia will share a common fate, abandoned by the Americans who seek closer ties with the Persians.
[i]‘The report said that if Kuwait did choose to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon, the decision would be a surprise given “the extent to which Kuwait is under American influence since the first Gulf war” in 1990-1991 to counter the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.”
How quick the ungrateful b@$%^rds forget! [/i] [/p]
Britain, which makes 37.4% of the Eurofighter, also fought in the Gulf War, so I don’t see how the Kuwaitis have any sought of moral obligation to only buy American.
Do you really think Kuwait would have been liberated without American involvement? No way! So many countries gave token aid.
The US lost 114 troops to enemy action during the Gulf War, the UK 38. Considering the US is 5 times the population size of the US, the UK lost a greater proportion per head of population to liberate the Iraqis as the US did. Of course, Kuwait is a sovereign country and has the right to choose planes from whichever country they want, but even so, I don’t see why Kuwaitis shouldn’t feel any sense of gratitude towards the Brits, especially considering their country wouldn’t exist in the first place where it not for the British Empire, which liberated it from the Ottoman Turks and then drew the borders that separated it from Mesopotamia (Iraq).
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