Post by: MicroBalrog on June 03, 2008, 12:14:21 AM
Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 2, 2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to use his trip in Washington, DC this week to tie up some loose ends on several requests by the IDF for new military platforms as well as funding for defense-related projects, officials said Monday.
One issue is the continued funding of the Arrow missile defense system. Israel is seeking close to $150 million to fund the project. If approved in Congress by October, the Arrow 3 project would be fully budgeted for 2009 and could be declared operational within a year. Development has already begun at Israel Aerospace Industries.
The defense establishment and the Homa Missile Defense Agency decided in April to press forward with the development and production of the Arrow 3, a more advanced version - in terms of speed, range and altitude - of the version (Arrow 2) currently in use by the IDF.
Olmert is scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and key senators and congressmen at the Capital. The talks there, officials said, will be instrumental in securing Congress's continued support for the Arrow, and possibly additional Israeli defense projects - including Iron Dome, which is being developed to counter Kassam rockets.
In another measure aimed primarily at Iran, Israel is asking for US permission to hook up directly to a global satellite system that detects missile launches anywhere in the world, rather than receiving the information second-hand from the US, officials said.
Israel has connected to the radar system in the past - during the First Gulf War in 1991 and ahead of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Top Israeli defense delegations have traveled to the US in recent months for talks in the White House and the Pentagon regarding a number of Israeli requests for advanced military platforms.
One request has centered on the F-22 - a stealth bomber currently operational in the US - which came up during recent talks in Washington. Israel has asked to be allowed to acquire the jet in light of Iran's suspected attempts to build a nuclear weapon.
The F-22 can avoid radar detection and is today the world's most advanced fighter jet. Sale of the F-22 is currently banned by Congress and it is possible that in talks with Bush as well as with congressmen, Olmert will seek their support for lifting the ban.
AP contributed to the report.
Post by: Leatherneck on June 03, 2008, 12:20:19 AM
Israel may step into the JSF program, making up in part for a couple of "International Partners" who are flagging. Or so I hear.
TC
Post by: MicroBalrog on June 03, 2008, 12:53:08 AM
Post by: roo_ster on June 03, 2008, 02:27:44 AM
I do have a problem having any foreign country hooking into GPS/.mil networks.
Post by: MicroBalrog on June 03, 2008, 02:42:56 AM
Post by: xavier fremboe on June 03, 2008, 04:21:32 AM
Post by: Sindawe on June 03, 2008, 04:40:25 AM
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Not to kick over a hornet's nest, but isn't Israel the ally who spies on us the most frequently?
And occasionally fires on our ships. 
To paraphrase a past president, our response to Israel (and everybody else for that matter) on the topic of non-emergency aid should be "..we ain't gonna give you no nothing..."
Post by: MicroBalrog on June 03, 2008, 05:17:45 AM
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Not to kick over a hornet's nest, but isn't Israel the ally who spies on us the most frequently?
And occasionally fires on our ships. To paraphrase a past president, our response to Israel (and everybody else for that matter) on the topic of non-emergency aid should be "..we ain't gonna give you no nothing..."
Exactly my opinion.
Post by: roo_ster on June 03, 2008, 05:47:09 AM
Yeah, but as far as I can understand, they're not beng sold. Ollmert wants you, literally, to give them to us, funded as part of the foreign aid package.
Uh, OK. Maybe they can also fund my desire for a Barrett M82 and all the .50BMG match ammo I can shoot in a lifetime, too.
As part of the blood money we pay Egypt & Israel NOT to spill each others' blood since Sadat & Begin got the smootchies at Camp David, it might be feasible.
Post by: Ezekiel on June 03, 2008, 06:23:13 AM
As part of the blood money we pay Egypt & Israel NOT to spill each others' blood since Sadat & Begin got the smootchies at Camp David, it might be feasible.
Perhaps we should just sell them -- both -- tactical weaponry to use against each other?
We get rich, eventually there is a winner, and the Middle East "problem" is solved: in the spirit of Camp Pendleton, not Camp David...
Post by: MechAg94 on June 03, 2008, 06:44:21 AM
IMO, the F-35 JSF is already shared with allies so that is what I would prefer to see sold. I didn't think we had many F-22's in inventory yet so I would hate to see it sold too soon. I am not sure there is much difference though. The cost alone will keep more nations from even copying it.
Post by: Manedwolf on June 03, 2008, 06:48:22 AM
As part of the blood money we pay Egypt & Israel NOT to spill each others' blood since Sadat & Begin got the smootchies at Camp David, it might be feasible.
Perhaps we should just sell them -- both -- tactical weaponry to use against each other?
We get rich, eventually there is a winner, and the Middle East "problem" is solved: in the spirit of Camp Pendleton, not Camp David...
Because anything sold to Egypt would mysteriously end up in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the streets of Iraq pointed at American soldiers.
Post by: MicroBalrog on June 03, 2008, 06:58:28 AM
As part of the blood money we pay Egypt & Israel NOT to spill each others' blood since Sadat & Begin got the smootchies at Camp David, it might be feasible.
Perhaps we should just sell them -- both -- tactical weaponry to use against each other?
We get rich, eventually there is a winner, and the Middle East "problem" is solved: in the spirit of Camp Pendleton, not Camp David...
Because anything sold to Egypt would mysteriously end up in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the streets of Iraq pointed at American soldiers.
So stop giving them free weapons.
Post by: Ezekiel on June 03, 2008, 08:29:08 AM
As part of the blood money we pay Egypt & Israel NOT to spill each others' blood since Sadat & Begin got the smootchies at Camp David, it might be feasible.
Perhaps we should just sell them -- both -- tactical weaponry to use against each other?
We get rich, eventually there is a winner, and the Middle East "problem" is solved: in the spirit of Camp Pendleton, not Camp David...
Because anything sold to Egypt would mysteriously end up in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the streets of Iraq pointed at American soldiers.
So stop giving them free weapons.
Concur.
I mean, come on: didn't we TRAIN most of those Afghan guys to beat the Soviets, then leave them to die at the hands of others, a generation ago, anyway?
Self-fulfilling prophecy, baby.
And, of course, they wouldn't be pointed at our soldiers, if we were not occupying their country. (Unless someone thinks they'd take the weapons and -- somehow -- mount an oversea invasion of the US.) Where's my aluminum foil hat?
Post by: taurusowner on June 03, 2008, 09:22:03 AM
Post by: Ezekiel on June 03, 2008, 10:31:48 AM
The JSF is a much better idea. That's a really good plane, and one designed to be shared by many allied nations. IMO, the F22 is just too new to be given away for other nations to tinker with. And honestly, does anyone think it would't be MUCH easier for Iran to find out stuff about the F22 if they were in Israel as opposed to staying with the US?
Excellent point.
Post by: 41magsnub on June 03, 2008, 10:42:25 AM
ecause anything sold to Egypt would mysteriously end up in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the streets of Iraq pointed at American soldiers.
And the tech of most anything we sell to Israel will end up in China.
Post by: xavier fremboe on June 03, 2008, 10:51:45 AM
ecause anything sold to Egypt would mysteriously end up in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the streets of Iraq pointed at American soldiers.
And the tech of most anything we sell to Israel will end up in China.
Soon we won't be able to go to war with them since they'll be our sole source for spare parts.
Post by: Scout26 on June 03, 2008, 01:31:25 PM
I mean, come on: didn't we TRAIN most of those Afghan guys to beat the Soviets, then leave them to die at the hands of others, a generation ago, anyway?
Self-fulfilling prophecy, baby.
Umm, not quite. Once the Soviets departed, we left them the hell alone. There was a civil war, which the Taliban essentially won, invited bin Laden to stay, and the rest is history.
Which is why I scratch my head when people say "Iraq is in a civil war, we should leave." But, I guess they didn't learn from our previous mistake.
Post by: Ezekiel on June 03, 2008, 01:42:16 PM
I mean, come on: didn't we TRAIN most of those Afghan guys to beat the Soviets, then leave them to die at the hands of others, a generation ago, anyway?
Self-fulfilling prophecy, baby.
Umm, not quite. Once the Soviets departed, we left them the hell alone. There was a civil war, which the Taliban essentially won, invited bin Laden to stay, and the rest is history.
Which is why I scratch my head when people say "Iraq is in a civil war, we should leave." But, I guess they didn't learn from our previous mistake.
So we should have just occupied the country?
Post by: Balog on June 03, 2008, 01:43:28 PM
Post by: Ezekiel on June 03, 2008, 01:48:23 PM
Would've saved us some trouble, wouldn't it?
Seriously: you've got a point.
But, if we hold ourselves (America) as virtuous -- and we're not -- Manifest Destiny is not the way to go.
Post by: Balog on June 03, 2008, 01:50:37 PM
Would've saved us some trouble, wouldn't it?
Seriously: you've got a point.
But, if we hold ourselves (America) as virtuous -- and we're not -- Manifest Destiny is not the way to go.
Hey guys, I figured out where Paddy went! He's just stolen Zeke's username.
Seriously, this isn't even insulting so much as incoherent.
Post by: Ezekiel on June 03, 2008, 02:06:20 PM
Would've saved us some trouble, wouldn't it?
Seriously: you've got a point.
But, if we hold ourselves (America) as virtuous -- and we're not -- Manifest Destiny is not the way to go.
Hey guys, I figured out where Paddy went! He's just stolen Zeke's username.
Seriously, this isn't even insulting so much as incoherent. When we leave the Middle East, you may cease pretending that America is NOT an aggressor occupation force maintaining martial law in a sovereign nation for our own benefit, a benefit that does NOT include "freedom."
Until we leave, keep up the act.
Post by: Unisaw on June 03, 2008, 05:37:06 PM
Post by: Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas on June 03, 2008, 07:20:18 PM
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Olmert to America: "YOUR ADVANCED AIRCRAFT. GIVE IT TO US."
America's response: "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US."