US To Sell Israel Massive Military Fuel Stocks Worth $2 Billion

Debkafile ^ | August 28, 2010, 12:53 PM (GMT+02:00)

[dselig]

On Aug. 6, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, DSCA, informed Congress of the sale to Israel of 60 million gallons of unleaded gasoline, 284 million gallons of JP-8 aviation jet fuel and 100 million gallons of diesel fuel at an estimated cost of two billion dollars.

The date is significant, intelligence sources find. Ten days earlier, the Japanese tanker M.Star was attacked in Omani waters of the Strait of Hormuz with 200,000 tons of oil.

Although American experts who examined the vessel, they never attributed the damage to sabotage by Iran or al Qaeda, despite the latter's claim of responsibility on Aug. 4 While Washington did its best to sweep the incident under the rug, Saudi intelligence were worried enough about the threat inching dangerously close to the Gulf's oil exporting lifeline to launch an independent investigation of the incident.

Their investigators discovered it was staged by a Saudi terrorist who operates out of Iran under the orders of the Revolutionary Guards.

To Riyadh, the episode looked like a blunt warning from Tehran to Washington and its allies about the consequences - not just of a direct strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, but the possibility of sanctions upsetting the equilibrium of the Islamic regime.

Blockage of the Strait of Hormuz would cut off Israel's primary source of fuel.

Therefore, our sources report, a series of accords, some of them secret, have been transacted to back up America's standing commitment to keep Israel supplied with its energy needs in the event of armed conflict or crisis on world fuel markets.

In its request to Congress to approve the sale, the DSCA noted: "The proposed sale of the JP-B aviation fuel will enable Israel to maintain the operational capability of its aircraft inventory. The unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel will be used for ground forces' vehicles and other equipment used in keeping peace and security in the region. Israel will have no difficulty absorbing this additional fuel into its armed forces."

Israel is therefore ready and able to absorb this huge injection of military-purpose fuels.

Tehran published its response through an item on the Tabanak Website on Saturday, Aug. 28.

It was headlined in large capitals: ISRAEL ORDERS MASSIVE MLITARY FUEL STOCKS FAR IN EXCESS OF THAT REQUIRED FOR NORMAL OPERATIONS. Our Iranian sources report that this site belongs to Mohsen Rezaei, ex-commander of the Revolutionary Guards and much respected in the highest Iranian military and intelligence circles.

The Iranian site goes on to cite bloggers' comments, the most quoted of which comes from an anonymous ex-US Air Force officer, who wrote on Aug. 27:

"I explained, as I have in the past, how it would be necessary for the US to supply the massive amounts of fuel need for such a [-n Israeli] strike. If Israel were to strike Iran, Israel would only require the massive amounts of jet fuel and over a billion litres of jet fuel would be more that enough to do the job in practical terms."

According to military experts, the shelf life of JP-8 jet fuel is not long - no more than six to eight months.

[JoyjoyfromNJ]

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[SunkenCiv]

"I explained, as I have in the past, how it would be necessary for the US to supply the massive amounts of fuel need for such a [-n Israeli] strike. If Israel were to strike Iran, Israel would only require the massive amounts of jet fuel and over a billion litres of jet fuel would be more that enough to do the job in practical terms."

A billion litres would be more than enough -- that's an understatement. Thanks dselig.

[JLS]

Get the logistics in order before being cut off by the Obama administration after the attack. They need enough to help survive the next 2 years.

[DoorGunner]

IIRC they are currently using JP-8 for all aircraft and diesel. A special additive is used for diesel engines.

Using only one fuel simplifies supply.

DG

[DoorGunner]

>>”According to military experts, the shelf life of JP-8 jet fuel is not long - no more than six to eight months.”

If this limitation is true, that would narrow the time of Israels attack on Iran to between the delivery date of the fuel, and maybe 3 months before the expiration date.

To calculate the expiration date, one must know WHEN it was produced. That would be some range of dates.

DG

[Bender2]

RE: JP-8 ain’t cheap.

Ain't JP-8 just... kerosene on steroids?

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JP-8:

JP-8, or JP8 (for “Jet Propellant 8”) is a jet fuel, specified in 1990 by the U.S. government. It is kerosene-based. It is a replacement for the JP-4 fuel; the U.S. Air Force replaced JP-4 with JP-8 completely by the fall of 1996, to use a less flammable, less hazardous fuel for better safety and combat survivability. The U.S. Navy uses a similar formula, JP-5. JP-8 is projected to remain in use at least until 2025. It was first introduced at NATO bases in 1978. Its NATO code is F-34. It is specified by MIL-DTL-83133 and British Defence Standard 91-87.

JP-8 has a flash point of 38 °C (100 °F),[1] compared to -18 °C (0 °F) for JP-4. JP-5 has an even higher flash point of > 60 °C (140 °F), but also a higher cost, limiting its use to aircraft carriers and other situations where the danger of fire is greatest.

Outside of powering aircraft, JP-8 (or JP-5) is used as a fuel for heaters, stoves,[2] tanks,[3] by the U.S. military as a replacement for diesel fuel in the engines of nearly all tactical ground vehicles and electrical generators, and as a coolant in engines and some other aircraft components. The use of a single fuel greatly simplifies logistics.

When used in highly supercharged diesel engines with the corresponding low compression ratio of about only 14:1 or below, JP-8 causes troubles during cold start and idling due to low compression temperatures and following ignition delay because cetane index is not specified in MIL-DTL-83133G to 40 or higher. Because lubricity to the BOCLE method is not specified in MIL-DTL-83133G, modern common rail diesel engines can experience wear problems in high pressure fuel pumps and injectors because of undefined lubricity conditions of this fuel. Another problem in diesel engines can be the increased wear in outlet valve seats in the cylinder heads, because a minimum content of sulfur is not specified in MIL-DTL-83133G. Sulfur in fuels contributes normally to build up damping soot layers in these valve seats. According to the notes in this standard it is intended to install a value for the cetane index in one of the next releases.

Because it does not gel at low temperatures, JP-8 is used at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station,[citation needed] for heating, electrical generation, and melting ice for water.

Commercial aviation uses a similar mixture under the name Jet-A.

JP-8 is formulated with icing inhibitor, corrosion inhibitors, lubricants, and antistatic agents, and less benzene (a carcinogen) and less n-hexane (a neurotoxin) than JP-4. However, it also smells stronger than JP-4. JP-8 has an oily feel to the touch, while JP-4 feels more like a solvent. Workers have complained of smelling and tasting JP-8 for hours after exposure. As JP-8 is less volatile, it remains on the contaminated surfaces for longer time, increasing the risk of exposure.[4]

JP-8+100 is a version of JP-8 with an additive that increases its thermal stability by 56°C (100°F). The additive is a combination of a surfactant, metal deactivator, and an antioxidant, and was introduced in 1994 to reduce coking and fouling in engine fuel systems. Commercially, this additive is used in Boeing aircraft operated by KLM, and in police helicopters in Tampa, Florida.[citation needed] JP-8+100 is also used for Canadian CF-18 Hornets.

Whoa! Who... would have thought?

But over 5 bucks a gallon... is still too friggin' high!

[SJackson]

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