Obama's got Israel's back again - selling advanced F-16's to Iraq
The Obama administration is showing once again how it has Israel's back, with a knife. The administration is selling 36 multi-role combat F-16's to Iraq. The planes are
comparable to Israel's F-16I's (pictured).
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 coming five years.
...
Israel’s concern is compounded by intelligence reports that the “Al-Quds Force” – the IRGC branch responsible for overseas operations – has been solidifying its presence in the country and is meddling in internal political affairs.
Aren't you all glad that the Obama administration is behind us?
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, F-16-I, Iraq
Add Taiwan to the list
You can
add Taiwan to the list of American allies who have been abandoned by the Obama administration (Hat Tip:
Sunlight).
Bowing to Chinese pressure, the U.S. will deny Taiwan’s request for 66 new F-16C/D fighter aircraft, a Taiwan Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said.
“We are so disappointed in the United States,” he said.
A Department of Defense delegation arrived here last week to deliver the news and offer instead a retrofit package for older F-16A/Bs that includes an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
The visit coincided with the biennial Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition (TADTE), held here Aug. 11-14.
“The U.S. Pentagon is here explaining what is in the upgrade package,” a U.S. defense industry source said at TADTE. “They are going to split the baby: no C/Ds, but the A/B upgrade is going forward.”
Sources said an official announcement of the decision is expected by month’s end.
But an official at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto U.S. Embassy, said “no decisions have been made,” while DoD officials declined to comment on their delegation’s mission.
Here's where this relates to Israel (aside from the fact that we have also been thrown under the bus by the Obama administration).
“While Congress has been notified of Oman and Iraq’s desire for F-16s, the Taiwan order for 66 aircraft is very important to the long-term viability of the F-16 production to include the U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin and the thousands of suppliers throughout the U.S.,” she said.
More than a few TADTE attendees said the Obama administration might reverse the decision as the 2012 presidential election approaches and political pressure for new jobs builds.
A June report by the Perryman Group, a Texas-based economic and financial analysis firm, estimated that Taiwan’s F-16C/D program would create more than 16,000 jobs and almost $768 million in U.S. federal tax revenue. Much of that tax revenue and new jobs would go to election battleground states: California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Texas and Utah.
But China holds about 8 percent of U.S. debt, the largest block in foreign hands.
As one TADTE attendee said, “Beijing’s Kung Fu is better than Washington’s.”
I wonder if the IAF would be interested in any of those F-16 C/D's. Of course, we already have the F-16 I and we have the F-35 (God knows when it will be ready) on order. But could we use those F-16 C/D's? I don't know enough to say.
Labels: China, F-16-C/D, F-16-I, F-35, IAF, Taiwan
Eight jet engines stolen from Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets
I don't recall seeing
this one in any Israeli media (Hat Tip:
Sunlight).
Someone has apparently managed to steal eight, yes, eight retired Pratt & Whitney F100 fighter jet engines that power F-15s and F-16s from an Israeli air base, according to an AFP article.
How on Earth did this happen in one of the world’s most security-conscious nations? I mean, each engine weighs several tons and requires a serious truck to move them. Can anyone say inside job? For now, the IAF is saying the engines were likely stolen for scrap metal. I mean, the F100 isn’t exactly cutting edge engine tech. Heck, depending on the variant, those stolen F100s may be the version that was plagued with so many problems that it prompted the U.S. Air Force to commission GE to build its F110 as an alternate engine to the F100 in the 1980s.
The real concern here isn’t the technology in the engines being stolen, it’s the fact that the IAF (or at least units at that base) is so corrupt that eight jet engines were stolen in plain view. You can’t exactly sneak them out of a hangar in your pocket.
Hmmm.
Labels: F-15, F-16-I, F100 jet engines, Israel Air Force
Bodies of F-16I pilot and navigator found
The bodies of the pilot and navigator from an
F-16I that was reported missing during the night on Wednesday were found on Thursday in the Ramon crater. Their plane had crashed and both were killed.
The remains of IAF pilot Maj. Amihai Itkis, 28, and navigator Maj. Emmanuel Levi, 30, whose F16I jet crashed at the Ramon Crater on Wednesday night, were found on Thursday afternoon. IAF commander Major General Ido Nehushtan notified the pilot and navigator's families of their loss.
Nehushtan arrived earlier to the scene of the crash so that he could oversee the search for the missing bodies. Army rabbis also arrived to help with the searches of the two servicemen who were feared dead.
The IAF found the black box of the jet just a few hours after the discovery of the remains, IAF Brig.-Gen Nimrod Shefer said.
The Air Force expressed hope that the black box will help them understand what occurred in the final minutes before the crash.
The black box will be sent to the plane's manufacturer Lockheed-Martin in the US, where it will be examined to determine the exact cause of the crash. IAF assessments suggested that the jet crash was likely caused by human error rather than a technical fault.
The jet was the leader of four planes that was on a training exercise and sank from an altitude of 11,000 feet to a much lower altitude. IAF investigators suspect that the pilot did not realize how low he had flown because no distress call was received.
The IAF launched extensive searches near the crash site in hope of finding survivors but several hours after the crash it appeared that the pilot and navigator did not succeed in ejecting from the plane.
Nehushtan was expected to order the establishment of an expert panel to investigate the crash.
May their memory be blessed. May their families be comforted among all mourners for Zion and Jerusalem and may they know of no more sorrow.
Labels: F-16-I, Ramon Crater, training exercise
Breaking: F-16-I crashes, crew missing?
An Israeli
F-16-I crashed in the Ramon Crater in southern Israel on Wednesday night on a routine training mission and the two-man crew is missing.
An Israeli air force F-16 crashed in the deserts of southern Israel while on a routine training flight, the military said Thursday, adding that its two-man crew were missing.
Large forces were carrying out search and rescue in the area of the Ramon Crater looking for the pilot and navigator, an army spokeswoman said.
The fighter was a US-made F-16I, custom designed for the Israeli air force and believed capable of reaching arch-foe Iran. This was the first crash of the model.
Air force commander Ido Nehushtan has ordered an investigation into the accident and has temporarily grounded the F-16I fleet, the spokeswoman said.
The accident occurred on Wednesday evening, but the military censor barred publication of the news until the families of the crew had been notified, standard practice in Israel.
More details when I have them.
UPDATE 3:02 AMIsrael Radio's 3:00 am newscast (yes, I'm working late tonight) had no more than I reported above except to say that search crews are out. I doubt those search crews can be effective in the darkness of an early night in a lunar month in the middle of a crater. I'd be shocked if they find anything before daylight - about three hours from now.
Labels: F-16-I, IAF, Ramon Crater
The Obama administration is showing once again how it has Israel's back, with a knife. The administration is selling 36 multi-role combat F-16's to Iraq. The planes are comparable to Israel's F-16I's (pictured). 
