Posted on 02/13/2010 12:23:17 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
How do two stolen jet fighter engines get from the United States, to Malaysia, then to Argentina, Uruguay and finally to Iran? No one is entirely sure just yet. But the two engines are still in the wind, and no other air force, except Iran's, would touch them (their parts numbers are in the hands of police everywhere). It all began last December, when Malaysia began an investigation into the theft of two General Electric J85-21A jet engines in 2007 and 2008. Each of the six F-5 fighters used by the air force uses a pair of these engines. Packed for shipping, the engine would be a box about eight feet long and weighing half a ton. At first, the 37 year old engines were believed shipped out of the country, from a Malaysian air base, and sold into the black market. It was thought that the most likely customer would be Iran, which would probably pay a million dollars, or more, for it. Iran has been under arms embargos for decades, and is desperate to obtain spare parts. Iran has about sixty F-5 fighters, purchased in the 1970s. Iran has used the F-5 as the model for domestically designed and built aircraft. So they are definitely in the market for J85-21A engines.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
Surprised the USAF still has F-5’s on the books !
The USAF still flies the T-38, which also uses a variant of the J85.
I believe NASA has some too.
VMFT-401 with the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, MCAS Yuma, AZ.
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