Posted on 12/26/2009 8:34:21 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Two missing US-made fighter jet engines, worth 29 million dollars and stolen from a Malaysian military airbase, have been traced to Argentina, police said Thursday. Police chief Musa Hasan said officers were checking with their counterparts in Buenos Aires to confirm if the missing engines are still in the country.
"The stolen engines have been taken to Argentina," the police chief told AFP. "We have to check if the engines are still in that country."
Musa told the Star newspaper that several top airforce officers, including generals, are expected to be questioned in connection with the theft.
Four people, including three low-ranking personnel, have already been arrested and freed on bail for their alleged role in the theft, he said according to the daily.
"We need to question all of them as it is not easy to just cart away the engines without authorisation and proper documents," he was quoted as saying.
The Malaysian government is facing a storm of criticism over allegations of official corruption after the theft of the engines.
News reports this week said the two Northrop F-5E jet engines had been sold on the black market by military officers to a South American company after being taken from a military airbase, apparently last year.
Armed forces chief Azizan Ariffin said the theft was only the "tip of the iceberg" after a newly completed audit revealed equipment worth millions of ringgit was missing, the New Straits Times reported Tuesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at spacewar.com ...
Look at Iran..... I’m sure the Mullahs have huge sums available to anyone who helps them to obtain military parts and weapons on the black market..... especially since a lot of their Shah-era equipment is inoperational due to lack of parts.
btt
ping.
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ON THE INTERNET:
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/malaysia/index
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/argentina/index
It could also be industrial espionage. Maybe someone wants to reverse-engineer our technology/equipment. It’s happened many times before.
A Look at Iran
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
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Off Thread Topic, but interesting.
http://www.spacewar.com/2006/091124040316.uxllbr6l.html
“Malaysia denies role in smuggling nuclear weapons to Iran”
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (AFP) Nov 24, 2009
SNIPPET: “Malaysia denied Tuesday any role in the illegal export of nuclear weapons to Iran but confirmed the involvement of a national in the export of potential military and explosive components.
Deputy foreign minister A. Kohilan Pillay told AFP Malaysia was not a centre for nuclear weapons shipments to Iran.
“Our country is not a centre for nuclear components or weapons or other weapons trans-shipments to Iran or anywhere else. We do not condone such activities,” he said.
Kohilan however confirmed Malaysian Brian Kaam and Iranian Majid Seif, who lives in Malaysia, along with two local companies, were among eight people and eight companies charged by the US Justice Department on September 11, 2008.”
LOL, you beat me to it...
OF course there's a lot of countries that could use these things. Argentina just reminds me of the Iranian involvement down there in blowing up the Israeli embassy so they've definitely got connections there.
Obama’s fault.
The Iranians still operate a bunch of F-5s and are constantly trying to get parts for all their western aircraft. I can’t believe that two -21 engines are worth $29 million, though.
As an alternative to Iran, Venezuela also operates ex-Canadian F-5s, but not in sufficient quantities for them to go through all this hoopla. However, since Iran can reportedly already reverse engineer parts for the F-5 (including engines), I’m kind of curious about the end buyer.
The J-85 isn't exactly cutting edge, and this century really too small to be worth the effort to fit to any combat plane not originally designed for it.
That’s true. I guess they’re just too lazy or cheap to make their own.
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