Posted on 04/28/2008 4:23:26 AM PDT by thundrey
A controversial British deal to supply Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia may have hit an obstacle. It appears that the Eurofighter - long touted as proof that the UK and its continental partners can make serious combat kit without American help - actually contains significant amounts of US technology, and that Washington may not permit the Saudi sale.
The revelations come in an article in today's Financial Times. It appears that the British government's application to export American tech on 72 Eurofighters to the desert princes is the subject of some debate both among Capitol Hill politicos and at the Departments of State and Justice.
(Excerpt) Read more at theregister.co.uk ...
> It appears that the Eurofighter - long touted as proof that the UK and its continental partners can make serious combat kit without American help
I don’t recall the Supermarine Spitfire requiring any American help...
Is the US trying to force a monopoly on arms sales to Saudi Arabia?
Rotten arab/muslim/enemy ingrates.
This is kind of low, imho. It’s not that the US has principled objections to arming the Saudis — the Saudis only decided to buy the Eurofighter after they turned down American competitors. This strikes me as an anti-competitive practice to unfairly promote American products over European products.
I think the answer to that question would be an unqualified YES. I think this is a very stupid precedent -- it will make it much more difficult for the US to enforce technology transfer agreements when they actually are necessary.
The report is just rambling non-sense. No deal is going to be scuppered. Was it a slow day in the office?
The U.S. Raptor also contains UK supplied equipment.
Not to mention what Avro made during the War and after it.
Avro Lancaster.
Avro Vulcan. (My personal fave, its a great looking plane)
No, we are fully capable of making superior aircraft when we need to. Lets not forget the Harrier.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.