Posted on 05/31/2010 12:31:12 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The United Arab Emirates is pressing Washington about buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. So is Israel. That's part of the United States' dilemma as it seeks to bolster the military forces of its Arab allies to counter Iran. The Americans also want their Arab friends, particularly the Persian Gulf states that neighbor Iran, to take more responsibility for their own defense at a time when the U.S. military is tied down in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The F-35 program headed by Lockheed Martin of Maryland has fallen badly behind schedule. On March 11, the Pentagon admitted to a 2-year lag but industry insiders suspect it's more.
The Pentagon estimates that the stealth jet won't be ready for operational deployment until 2015 rather than 2013 as originally envisaged.
And the cost has more than doubled from $50 million per aircraft in 2002, when the program was launched, to $113 million -- and the aircraft has barely left the ground.
Israel wants the F-35 quickly because it would be ideal for potential airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities.
No doubt the United Arab Emirates want the state-of-the-art jet for the same reason, to give its already formidable air force a much heftier punch.
But whether the F-35 is available any time soon is unlikely to significantly change the accelerating drive by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman to get their hands on high-end weapons systems to counter Iran's massive manpower and strategic depth
(Excerpt) Read more at spacewar.com ...
Ping
Exporting F16s to Iraq or any other country does not bother me. Bird has been around since the 70s and is being replaced in the USAF.
This bothers me.
F35 is not even fielded yet and they are trying to sell it to a ME country.
This is the same as the F14 sale to the Shah in the 70s when they were brand new...
Allah is frowning upon your evil thoughts.
The planes have a source code.The Joint Strike Fighter, can switch between air-to-ground and air-to-air missions in mid-flight, thanks to some eight million lines of code. The United States will provide a way for countries to upgrade the software as necessary without revealing the source code.
You are still talking about fielding aircraft that have a comparable capability to what we have before we have upgraded. And the UAE is not that close of an ally.
Last time we did something that stupid was Iran.
I have no problem with F16s and F-18s.
This is the F35 and we haven’t fielded any yet and already they want to export to an unstable country in the ME...
The F-16 did not have a Lojack. They have to constatly come to us to get the updates or the plane does not fly.
I prefer a “kill switch” than a Lojack.
If those sheiks want the F-35, make them pay the top price and some. Hell, I'll even sell them a couple F-22s while we're at it if it means we get to keep our production lines open while Obama is still the President.
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