Posted on 06/06/2006 9:01:52 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
I agree with you, but on the other hand think of it as outsourcing. If the Israelis have better technology than we do, we might as well buy it.
National missile defense is a great idea - and we sure as heck need it on the west coast from Alaska to San Diego thanks to Clinton and his North Korea debacle. We should be deploying these too.
If the US sells/gives Tridents to anyone other than the P-5 nations,they would also need to sell atleast 2 SSBNs,associated systems & provide complete logistical support,the cost of which may have to be borne by the Pentagon itself!!!To launchIsrael or anyone else would need to carry out massive modifications of their SSKs,which cannot be done without the help of the manufacturers & this would most likely adversely affect the capabilities of such ships.Israel already has sub launched cruise missiles which have a supposed range of upto 1,500 kms which are far more sensible for SSKs.Taiwan too is working on cruise missiles though it could do with a Tomahawk or 2 for its surface ships & 2 subs!!
Thanks for the ping!
BMD missiles are already in the holes in select west coast locations.
If the Israelis, or anyone else has better technology for sale, we'd buy it, but this isn't missile technology per se, it is anti-missile technology.
The money we've spent on Star Wars to date, was so much that the Soviet Union looked at the table, folded and walked away. That was in 1991, today, we have the only deployed system on earth.
We are outsourcing part of the work to Israel, sorta kinda, part of their fee is they get to make their own, and name their own, but the systems share quite a lot of technology.
For example, re-read the part of the article about holography, then search "Aegis Block IV". Very interesting capability, but not exactly cutting edge.
The thing is, these consulting arrangements are negotiated beforehand, and sometimes participants want to change the deal later on. Sometimes there's a valid reason for it, and sometimes the expense account gets padded a bit. In any event, negotiation follows till both sides agree or they decide to pursue future efforts independently.
Right now, Israel has a particular interest in ABM technology. Arrow 3.4b may be the best we can field if worse comes to worst, but Israel won't be without some sort of overhead over. Squeeze the eagle, eagle screams, life goes on.
Israel is building it's own long range naval SAM system around the new MF-STAR radar & Barak-2 missiles(jointly developed with India).This combo,on paper is only meant for anti-aircraft/missile roles,but the Israeli experience with the Arrow could be used to give it ATBM capabilities too.
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