Oh yeah, these guys
Posted on 04/19/2008 4:17:06 AM PDT by MARKUSPRIME
Clearly, the Justice department believes there is reasonable cause to think US law has been violated by the Bandar payments. Since the money actually came from a British government account, it could be argued that the UK state - rather than BAE as such - was the actor, and thus should be denied the export permit it is asking for.It appears that the British government's application to export American tech on 72 Eurofighters to the desert princes is the subject of some debate both among Capitol Hill politicos and at the Departments of State and Justice.Now the US State Department needs to decide whether to grant a tech-export license allowing the British government to permit BAE's proposed sale of (as it turns out) partly-American Eurofighters to the Saudis. US export regs say such licenses may be denied where there is "reasonable cause" to believe that the applicant has violated US law.
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
Isn’t that a tad hypocritical given the amount of high-tech hardware the US sold to shaky allied such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia ? F-15, M-1 tanks, AWACS planes...
I am afraid the lesson that will be learned by BAE and other UK firms will be NOT to use US technology, so they remain free of selling to whoever gets approved by their OWN government.
I guess I fail to see the problem. Who’s gonna be flying them?
Arab air forces are rife with neopotism and cronyism. They farm out maintenance and logistics to Westerners and are lucky to be able to get off the ground in the event of a conflict. (Egyptians are a little better than the Arab standard, but not much.)
This is like selling computers to gorillas, a waste of money.
Good then dont use our tech and be a few generations behind.
Well,
- 1°) the US isn’t the only provider of high-tech goods,
- 2°) US tech isn’t automatically the best either (hence the interest for the current multinational projects,)and
- 3°)in those fields where the US tech is indeed better, not using it anymore will force the competition to bridge the gap.
The move to block the Eurofighter sale sounds more like a turf war than a call for responsible arms deals.
Umm did you read the criminal investigation where the Saudis were paid off and made threats about not being able to stop terrorism in the UK?
PS- The US does make the best fighter jets. Period.
“PS- The US does make the best fighter jets. Period.”
Ah, the power of affirmations. I’m pretty sure the BAE guys are pretty slick at engineering, too, and unless you want to tell me they’re somehow genetically less intelligent or something, I’m sure they’d rise to the challenge.
Once again, this smells like a turf war and nothing else. The Saudis are bad guys when they buy Eurofighters, and swell guys when they sign contracts with Boeing or McDonnell-Douglas ?
Bad Saudis, very bad ! : http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003881/posts?page=7#7
I am afraid the lesson that will be learned by BAE and other UK firms will be NOT to use US technology, so they remain free of selling to whoever gets approved by their OWN government.
God, I hope so! We do not need allies like this and they can all use whatever tech that they can come up with to kill themselves without stealing ours.
Have fun trying to do that, okay?
Once again, this smells like a turf war and nothing else
no it does not, and is not, but something smells here, thats for sure.
Well - you can be scoff at his comments - but he is correct. The F22 is in a class by itself - there is nothing in the world right now that can touch it (or see it!)
You did hear that we’ve retired the F117?? Well - the F22 can do everything it could do better in the bomber department, and as a fighter -well - here is a clue to one tactic used.
Two F22’s against a squadron of other fighters. The first hangs WAY back - maybe 50-75 miles back. It transmit’s it’s radar picture to the other completely stealthy F22. Both have a full radar picture of the on-coming competition - but the competition can’t see the forward attacker. What do you call that? (I call it not-fair - which is the way I want my country to go to war!)
My last post should have been addressed to MARKUSPRIME - not yourself. Sorry about the incorrect attribution.
Oh yeah, these guys
Wow that was also before 9/11 and during the cold war.
From the Register article:
All that to one side, today's news at the very least appears to have finally destroyed the concept of "appropriate sovereignty" which underpins the current British Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS). The thinking here is that Blighty will pay increased prices for less-capable military kit made partly in the UK, rather than buying cheaper and better gear from abroad. Equipment such as Eurofighter may cost more and do less, but - so goes the reasoning - at least we won't have to ask the Yanks for tech support all the time.
Except that it turns out we will. So the horrendous extra cost of Eurofighter (and Future Lynx, Type 45, A400M etc etc) looks less and less worthwhile.
What is the technology involved here? Avionics? Engine? Low observable coatings? I don't get the problem with the State Department.
Not true any longer, we (the usa) have exported most of our tech, and most of our manufacturing. The Euros (plus the Japanese and soon Chinese) are just as capable as us.
Being an ex-Bae employee. I can tell you there are very few American aircraft flying today which does not have British technology integrated at the design stage. A prime example being the F35. And when China becomes THE world superpower, you and the Brits will be requesting Chinese export licenses.
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