Posted on 04/08/2012 5:37:06 PM PDT by U-238
Israel is increasingly concerned with the military build-up in Iraq amid intelligence reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is solidifying its presence in the country, according to a senior IDF officer.
Of particular concern is the Pentagon’s approval in late 2011 of the sale of 36 F- 16 multi-role combat aircraft to Iraq. The planes will be built by Lockheed Martin in the US and are Block 52 F-16s, meaning that they are of the same configuration as Israel’s F-16Is, called Sufa (Storm).
“We are carefully watching the developments in Iraq,” the IDF officer said.
“The possible developments there are not immediate, but since the US withdrawal from Iraq we do not know what will evolve there.”
Israel’s concern was demonstrated in the Halamish multi-year procurement plan, which the IDF General Staff approved in late 2011 but has yet to implement due to continued disagreements between the Defense Ministry and the Treasury over the size of the defense budget for the com
(Excerpt) Read more at alert5.com ...
Airplanes don’t matter. it’s the pilots. IDF=hard core vets,iraqies know how to fly to iran.
Airplanes don’t matter. it’s the pilots. IDF=hard core vets,iraqies know how to fly to iran.
It matters.
The concern of the IDF is that these jets might end up in the hands of the IRGC. They can take the plane apart and study the plane and give its data to our enemies(Russians,Chinese). There is a possibility that the planes would be reversed engineered.
There is a special source code for the plane. The source code gives the instructions on flight dynamics and weapon systems. If the IRGC learns of this code they will have the ability to jam the Israelis F-16s.
In Egypt we provided both the planes and the pilot training. Thus so many commercial pilots now Egyptian. when we learn from experience, does that mean doing the same thing over and over util we learn how to do it right? Or does it mean “don’t do it again?”
Good Point. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it’s hard to get it back in. I would probably say give the Israelis the F-35 jets they are asking for to give them the advantage they need over the Egyptians.
Here is what their enemies are up against: Approximately 10,000 apply for Fighter Pilot path in each class. They are the collective number 1s and number 2s and number 3s of their High Schools, who also got the equivalent of 2400 on their SATs and are mostly the captains of their school soccer teams. They are 100% fluent in Hebrew, and most likely have at least a high school fluency in English. So pilots as young as 21-22 were taking part in combat sorties. Their reflexes are best at that age, reflexes will start to slow in the mid 20’s range. Israeli pilots, are officers, do not have to have any post secondary education. Achmed had better just bend over, it doesn’t matter what he is flying!
I remember in Saburo Sakai’s book the Japanese Navy was nearly unbelievable in their pilot selection and training prior to Pearl Harbor. I don’t recall the details but I doubt any country had such high standards.
He also said it turned out to be a big mistake. They washed out lots of excellent pilots who they could have used later.
My Okinawan Sensei who at 17 yrs. old was in a Kamikaze training program in 1945 at the Battle of Okinawa. Fortunately the war ended before he was used. I asked him one time, so what was that all about? He said I was “crazy boy” back then.
And in the "conservative" House..."zzzzzzzzzz...."
This is not a “done deal”. DSCA(Defense Security Cooperation Agency) requests still has to go through the House of Representatives. I think that HASC and the Foreign Relations Committee might want have hearings before they continue with the sale.
Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) requires the President to give Congress advance written notification of the intent to sell defense articles, equipment and services.DSCA prepares and delivers the notifications to Congress only with the approval of the State Department. Once Congress has been notified of a proposed arms sale under Section 36(b) AECA, the President must publish an unclassified version of the notification in the Federal Register
Not quite “war porn”, but still good.
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