Posted on 02/14/2014 10:36:30 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
According to media reports, Egypt’s interim government, installed by the army in July 2013, is negotiating a $2 billion arms package with Russia. Some sources say the deal may have already been signed during the visit this week to Moscow by the head of the Egyptian army, Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. It is understood that the deal is being funded by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.
Cairo appears to have turned to Russia following the souring of relations with Washington after the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi last summer. In spite of the political background, an Egyptian spokesman insisted that the purpose of the Moscow visit was to “diversify our partners.”
There has been no official word on what the Russian arms package includes, but reports from last November suggest that combat helicopters, anti-tank weapons and air defense systems such as the Pantsir S1 could be included. The headline act, however, is the Mikoyan MiG-29M2 fighter, of which Cairo is understood to want 24.
Following the installation of an interim government in Egypt, Washington suspended deliveries of F-16s, citing ongoing political unrest as the reason. Twenty F-16C/Ds were due to be delivered last year under the Peace Vector VII contract, but only eight had been handed over by the time the order came to suspend deliveries. That order came just two weeks after Washington announced that delivery of the next four would go ahead.
Egypt has received a total of 224 F-16s over the years as one of the principal elements of the U.S. Foreign Military Financing program to the country. The Fighting Falcon forms the backbone of Egypt’s tactical air force. The majority are F-16C/D Block 40 aircraft with General Electric F110 engines, but the partially delivered batch comprises F-16C/D Block 52s with the Pratt & Whitney F100 powerplant.
Another lost ally thanks to obama.
“It is understood that the deal is being funded by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.”
As Barry “pivots” to the Western Pacific where the Chinese Navy are on maneuvers off of Darwin for the first time, the Saudis may be looking to get some MiGs that aren’t crippled so that they can’t defeat the Israelis into Arab hands...like all of the Saudi’s own US-supplied jets (and the Egyptian F-16s) are crippled.
The Saudi’s expected Barry and Kerry to bully the Israelis into submission by now and they are hacked that Netanyahu won’t surrender to the PA.
Just who would the Saudis expect the Egyptian MiGs to go up against on their behalf? The Iranians? Or is it the US and Israel?
The Saudis are rumored to have a bunch of nukes on order from Pakistan ready to be installed now that Barry’s nuclear umbrella over the Saudis v. Iran is worthless. So maybe the Saudis will need Egypt to help protect the Saudi nukes from Israel with the MiGs?
The mind boggles!
The Saudis have Eurofighters and the UAE is planning to buy Rafales so they realistically don’t need 24 Migs.
Under Obama—we Gave the Egyptians Fighter planes for free. Russians sell them fighters—paid for by Arabia. Who got the better deal? Another in a long line of failures brought on by Obama and Clinton.
Once again, we ASSUMED that Egypt would be stable despite its history of instability.
Israel is not the problem nor the target.
Iran is the problem
Once the war begins, the Egyptian planes will be flying off the runways at King Fahd International Airport bound across the Gulf to their targets
In the old days, the USSR sold arms but never really collected. They created trade receipts that were bank assets to collateralize loans to the arms manufacturers for payroll and overhead. This paper was backed by IOU’s from the weapons purchasers.
Back in ‘91 or so, we dealt with Russian companies wanting to buy computers that had their banks offer the discounted trade receipts as payment. Nope, no sale
Putin has nothing but arms to create jobs and sell abroad. He can cut his prices very cheap to buy the jobs.
I believe that the Saudis have more than enough aircraft that are superior to the Iranians in their inventory. The Saudis do NOT have aircraft superior to the Israelis.
The Saudis can defeat an Iranian Air Force attack on its oil and nuclear-capable missile sites (already constructed and visible in satellite photos). But they can’t defeat an Israeli Air Force attack.
There is a window between now, when the Israelis are equipped with modified F-15 and F-16s and several years from now when the Israelis get the F-35.
At a minimum, a bunch of MiG-29s in Egypt will cause the Israelis to re-deploy assets diluting forces available to strike Saudi Arabia.
Iran is on the verge of obtaining a nuke which is what has made it an Israeli target and I expect that the Saudis obtaining drive-thru nukes from Pakistan would make them just as much of an Israeli target.
I would expect that all EU/US sourced fighters in the Saudi/UEA inventory would be qualitatively inferior to Israeli fighters as a condition of sale...which I expect would NOT be the case with Egyptian purchases of MiG-29s.
IIRC, US law prohibits sale of equipment to Arab states that is not inferior to Israeli equipment and I expect that this extends in some form to all NATO country equipment.
I can’t deny your thoughts but......
In my mind the problems between Israel and the Gulf Arabs have been pushed aside until the Iranian problem is resolved.
Egypt has been brought into the Gulf Fold because they need Arab solidarity as best it can be. The Egyptian military and most importantly manpower. Lots of Egyptians are employed throughout the Gulf.
I can’t characterize the military agreement between the Gulf states and Israel as other than cooperation against Iran. If one goes, they all go.
And then there is business and money. Trade will happen. Jews and Arabs loce trade above all.
Thanks sukhoi-30mki.
“I can’t characterize the military agreement between the Gulf states and Israel as other than cooperation against Iran. If one goes, they all go.”
Up until Barry decided to cut out Israel and the Saudis to negotiate a deal with Iran that will ONLY result in Iran GETTING the bomb, the equation was US+Isreal+Gulf states vs. Iran.
But now since Barry, unlike Bush, will actively impede a unilateral Israeli attack on Iran and Iran is only WEEKS away from having a bomb and can get one before it can be reliably detected...
...the Saudis have realized that ONLY by having a bomb themselves immediately (via Pakistan) will they have an adequate deterrent to Iran’s impending bomb.
But the Israelis consider a Saudi A-bomb to be as much of an existential threat as an Iranian bomb, IMO, and a new separate fault equation of US+Israel vs. Saudi+Egypt regarding the Saudi bomb could well be taking shape.
The Saudis have spent $billions preparing to defend against a conventional Iranian blowback from a US or Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. The Saudis have NO defense against nuclear blowback from Iran...absent a nuke of their own!
Bottom line: Barry has screwed things up in every way imaginable!
For US systems-yes, for EU products, not necessarily so. The Saudis are the main drivers for upgrading the Eurofighter with capabilities not required by its manufacturing nations while the UAE has been arm-twisting the French into producing a customised version of the Rafale with improved engines and EW capabilities.
The Europeans have far smaller order books so they have to bend over backwards for deals, US restrictions be damned. Which is why the UK/France sell the Scalp cruise missile to Saudi Arabia while the US only release the SLAM-ER missile to the region, which is a lighter, shorter range weapon.
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