F-16s & Abrams Tanks Gifts

[Guest EYEMAN]

Now that Washington has seen such wisdom in giving our planes, tanks and technology to Egypt. Ahmadenijad has decided to pay Egypt a visit.  In the news today, the Iranian President is enticing Morsi to form an alliance with Iran. How will our wonderful leaders feel if our servicemen have to go into battle against our own weapons and technology.  

What is more ironic is that politicians in this country are concerned about our law abiding citizens owning guns  Does anyone else see this as being a concern?.

[hipower]

Surely of no concern. Who could possibly imagine anything like Egypt and Iran agreeing on a purchase of "surplus" weaponry just lying around not being used to attack say... Israel?

[Links2k]

It's a concern, but we have covered this before. What we are allowing them to have is a four liter mustang. The technology that we maintain is a Shelby Mustang. We have been giving these very same tanks and planes to our so called "allies" for decades. They are dumbed down versions of our equipment. Our technology would easily defeat theirs in combat.

[Defender]

Well...just in case, we could always pass a law that these countries wouldn't use these weapons against us or our allies...hmmm that would surely work, wouldn't it? :rofl:

[Guest EYEMAN]

Surely of no concern. Who could possibly imagine anything like Egypt and Iran agreeing on a purchase of "surplus" weaponry just lying around not being used to attack say... Israel?

These were not purchased, they were a gift and they were not surplus.  They were given to an Egyptian leader  who said "hatred of Jews should be instilled in our children"

[TMF]

Not to mention they have a finite amount of munitions available for those weapons systems. I don't know how ammo re supply works on that contract, but I would be very surprised if either the Iranians or Egyptians could figure out how to domestically produce guided munitions that works with the F16s we gave them. I guess they could make 105mm rounds pretty easy, but they aren't gonna be the good ones like we have.

I do think its troubling though, the relationship of convenience developing between the two administrations. I can't help but wonder how Morsi is maintaining support domestically, since Shias are not favored by most Sunni Egyptians. Then again, I guess Mubarak was never that popular either.

[Guest EYEMAN]

It's a concern, but we have covered this before. What we are allowing them to have is a four liter mustang. The technology that we maintain is a Shelby Mustang. We have been giving these very same tanks and planes to our so called "allies" for decades. They are dumbed down versions of our equipment. Our technology would easily defeat theirs in combat.

When four F-16s left Ft. Hood in January, a spokesman for the base called them "our state of the art fighter jets".  A four liter Mustang or Model T, in my humble opinion they should have never left this country.  I guess we will now have to wait and see where they turn up and how they are used.

[Guest EYEMAN]

Well...just in case, we could always pass a law that these countries wouldn't use these weapons against us or our allies...hmmm that would surely work, wouldn't it? :rofl:

I wonder if there was a limit on the number of rounds the planes magazine would hold. Never mind they are not called assault planes.

[TMF]

The Iranians still have F-14s we gave to the Shah, but they still can't match our technology in terms of targeting systems. Hell, they can barely keep them airborne between the sanctions and having to reverse engineer all the spare parts. These F-16s we're giving away might as well be outdated Migs, and are no match for what we and the Israelis have. I don't think we should have given them squat, but it doesn't make the region any more unstable than it already is, and it doesn't give them any advantage over the Israelis.

Of course, I'm gonna effing vomit if I see that monkey piece of garbage Ahmadninejad sitting on an Abrams tank.

[gjohnsoniv]

I think this might turn out to be another Iran Contra affair. Give them the stuff and then sell the spare parts at x10,000 times the cost. After all the planes and tanks aren't what I would call maintenance free.

[Guest CigarGuy]

So, we gave them the goods to attack(fill in the blank)

or

We gave them the goods to defend against (fill in the blank).

 

Either one.  Go ahead........

 

Seems like the answer to at least one of those questions should/could be answered before shipment?

[TMF]

I think this might turn out to be another Iran Contra affair. Give them the stuff and then sell the spare parts at x10,000 times the cost. After all the planes and tanks aren't what I would call maintenance free.

Yeah, and an Abrams tank ain't a T-62. They're a little harder to keep running. To put this in perspective, well over half of the Humvees we gave the Iraqis and Afghans are non operational. Even if you didn't count the combat losses, it would still be over half of what they've been given that should otherwise be working, doesn't.

They can't keep the stuff running without parts and know-how. I'm curious to know what the maintenance packages on these are, but if it wasn't specified in the order or it changed or is subject to change, I suspect that will be the back channel way of rendering these weapon systems useless. I don't think I'm underestimating them when I say that the Egyptians are incapable of reverse engineering this stuff to manufacture durable parts. Maybe the Iranians, but that would be way off in the future and doubtful they'd go through that trouble for an "iffy" ally such as Egypt.

[Chucktshoes]

I think this might turn out to be another Iran Contra affair. Give them the stuff and then sell the spare parts at x10,000 times the cost. After all the planes and tanks aren't what I would call maintenance free.

As someone who worked maintenance on the F-16 when I was in the Air Force I can attest to this fact. :lol: You couldn't pay me enough to take a ride in one. Those jets are maintenance hogs.

[Guest 556or762]

Replacement parts? Ammunition? Does anyone here know who the largest arms dealer in the world is? Its the USA mostly by way of the CIA, if they have the money they can buy it from the CIA who will then use the cash to finance their secret wars here and abroad. Just my thoughts on the subject, but he maintenance aspect is very true especially in the dusty middle east, I saw many a Humvee and MRAP sitting at the LVM,HVM shops when I was over there. You have to do twice or maybe three times the work to keep that stuff running in the heat and dirt, a turbine in an Abrams has a short life expectancy over there. Hell the C130j had to get an updated prop because the dust was so abrasive they were wearing out in no time.