White House Backs $3.8 Bln Loan to Poland for Lockheed F-16s

Bloomberg.com ^ | 09-21-2002 | Bloomberg

[montag813]

Washington, Sept. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The White House has asked Congress to approve a $3.8 billion long-term loan to Poland to buy 48 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 fighter jets, weapons and logistics support.

Lockheed is competing against France's Dassault Aviation SA and Saab AB, the Swedish maker of Gripen fighters with partner BAE Systems Plc, for the contract, which is worth an estimated $3.5 billion.

[montag813]

Why are we further straining an already-stressed budget for unneccessary foreign aid to a non-critical ally? $4 billion with a "long-term loan"? That is as good as free, and greater than the yearly aid total for Israel. Yet this is getting little notice. With Lockheed Martin trading near a 52-week high, they hardly need the corporate welfare.

[Mark Felton]

FMS is not a bad thing, it has helped undermine communist weapons dealers and socialist manufacturers for 30 years.

The real devil in this program will be International Offset Contracts in which the US manufacturer will transfer a certain amount of technology and production work to Polish industries.

US jobs are undermined in such situations.

[Eastbound]

I agree. If we have money laying around for long-term loans, we have money to pay for the concurrent receipt of retirement and disability compensation for our own military. Not prudent to loan money when you owe money for critical services already performed.

[Eastbound]

FYI - Bump

[Militiaman7]

Thanks for the ping. I agree.

[Cicero]

I imagine it's probably a wash. On the one hand, if we have offered the loan on favorable terms, the financing may cost us some money. On the other hand, if we expand the market for American military aircraft, it will bring down the cost per plane. The more planes you produce, the less the cost per plane is the usual rule.

No doubt the competition to sell military aircraft to other countries may sometimes lose us some money, but the alternative--to let the Europeans gain a world market for their aircraft--is undesirable.

[Orion78]

Putin says NATO should be replaced

[R. Scott]

Bureaucrats care little for the retired disabled vets. Now, they have to ensure NATO is as strong as possible – gotta watch those Serbs.