<<Now, as I see it, this goes along with that American municipality's principle of arming all of its citizens, thereby putting everyone on an even footing. The solution to armed conflict/assault/warfare is to make sure everyone -- EVERYONE -- can get a shot off, thus, making sure no one starts it. Pretzel Logic. A<>E<>R >> >From http://defence-data.com/current/ U.S. to sell aircraft, tanks and missiles to Egypt March 12, 1999 The United States has offered Egypt a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) deal valued at $3.2 billion to supply aircraft, tanks and missiles. US Defence Secretary William Cohen announced the sale at a news conference after meeting President Hosne Mubarak of Egypt in Cairo yesterday. The US will sell Egypt 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 40 version fighters, 200 M1-A1 tanks and a Patriot air defence missile battery. Egypt already has 196 F-16 fighter and over 500 M1-A1 tanks. The release of Patriot Air Defence system for sale to Egypt was welcomed by Patriot manufacturer William H. Swanson, CEO of Raytheon, said, "The Administration's decision to release Patriot is the key first step in a process leading Egypt to join eight other nations which use the world's most advanced and only combat-proven system capable of defending against the entire spectrum of air defence threats, including high performance aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.'' The sale will be funded out of the annual grant of over $1 billion in military aid which the US gives to Egypt. Cyprus and the S-300: a Greek Comedy or Tragedy? March 15th, 1999 by Gordon Feller, Defence Systems Daily's correspondent in Moscow The long-awaited deal to have Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missiles delivered to the Greek-Greek-Cypriots is at last reaching fruition. Greek-Cypriot Defence Minister Ioannis Khrisostomis and representatives from Russia's premier arms exporter, Rosvooruzhenie, finally signed an agreement on 17 February. Russian sources say these missiles may be delivered to the Greek-Cypriots as early as this month. Simple arms sale, right? No big deal, right? You may think so, but this one has been a real soap opera right from its very controversial start. The $500 million plus deal was originally signed back in January 1997. It provided for an 18-month delivery period, with a battery of 12 launchers and 48 missiles being delivered by Russia to be deployed in Cyprus. From the start, NATO countries frowned upon the deal, with the most obviously vocal opponent being Turkey. Of course, this was understandable since the military intention of deploying S-300s in Cyprus would be to hold off attacking Turkish aircraft. However, politically, Cyprus may have never intended to actually deploy the missiles, but rather may have planned to use them as a bartering chip to end or minimise a long-standing problem of Turks occupying the northern third of the island. At various times over the 18-month delivery period, Turkey vowed adverse repercussions if the missiles were delivered. During this time, officials in Russia stood fast, stating they would deliver the missiles when Cyprus was ready for them. The 18 months officially ended in July 1998. Around that time, Greek-Cypriot officials came to the realisation that tourists visit the island in the summer and so they asked that delivery be postponed. (At least that's their story and they're sticking to it!) Russia didn't disagree to the postponement but remained firm that it would fulfil the terms of the contract. And why not? This deal has great significance for Russia. Aside from the half-billion-dollar price tag, this deal would mean Russian arms had finally made it to the Mediterranean, the southern belly of NATO. While many around the world were awaiting the coming of the New Year, Glavkos Kliridhis, the president of the Republic of Cyprus, was meeting with his counterpart in Athens. Then on 29 December 1998, he announced the S-300s that he had ordered would not be deployed on Cyprus, but rather on the island of Crete, 500 or so miles to the west. This then is a new, "official" agreement, almost 26 months after the original deal was signed; however, the details of the new agreement have yet to be released. A week before the deal became official, Moscow was providing three conditions which had to be included: The missiles had to be set up and operating on Crete, with Russian technicians on the ground, and with Greek-Cypriot military trainers on Crete to help the Russians train the Greeks. Whether those conditions were met or some hybrid compromise reached is yet to be seen, but it appears appropriate that Russian and Greek-Cypriot representatives have signed on the dotted line (again) and the deal is "official." When this arrangement began, it was between two countries, the Republic of Cyprus and Russia. Now there is another major player, Greece. Therefore, in addition to Cyprus and Russia agreeing on the details, Cyprus and Greece must come to an understanding as well as Greece and Russia. From all accounts to date, Cyprus and Greece have settled on the major issues. Cyprus will pay for the missiles and launchers and will maintain ownership. Greece will have control over the operation. The Greek-Cypriots get to pay $500 million for a defence system that will be located 500 miles away from the territory it is suppose to defend. The other pair that must come to agreement are Greece and Russia. One would think that should be easy, since Russia really wants to sell the missiles and Greece was a major influence in the Greek-Cypriot president's decision to change the location. Well, Greek-Cypriot Defence Minister Khrisostomis related early on that the Greek government accepted Moscow's condition that Russian technicians must maintain a presence on the island of Crete. Additionally, the Russian ambassador to Cyprus, Georgi Muratov, stated that "only minor details on technical aspects are pending discussion." Furthermore, the Greek General Director of Arms Systems, Ioannis Sbokos, was present at the signing of the Russian-Greek-Cypriot agreement on 17 February, with no reported objections. Two days after the agreement was signed, Grigoriy Rapota, general director of Rosvooruzhenie, told Interfax that Russia faces "quite intensive negotiations with Greece." He added that "in principle, the issue is solvable ... but work still remains to be done." What will Cyprus do now to defend its sovereign territory? The S-300s deployed on Crete can provide only limited coverage. As one Russian military expert said, the location of the missiles on Crete puts them "out of harm's way" for Turkey. There are unconfirmed reports that Athens has offered Cyprus some of the TOR-M1s Greece has on order from Russia. Thus a customer will pay $500 million for state-of-the-art missiles with a 1,500-km range and then take delivery of missiles with a range of less than 50 km. That sounds good, but the Greek-Cypriots think they can do better. While in Moscow, sources close to the Greek Greek-Cypriot delegation leaked an even better deal to the Russia media. They said, "the problem of the S-300s has been solved, TOR missiles ... will be bought instead." In the end it looks like a customer will pay $500 million for top-notch missiles and then pay again to obtain duds to defend its homeland. REF XQQEE XQQAR XQQLD Challenger 1 tanks for Jordan March 16th, 1999 His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan and Lord Gilbert, UK Minister for Defence Procurement met in Amman yesterday. Following the meeting, it was announced jointly that an agreement in principle had been reached for the UK Government to supply Challenger 1 Main Battle tanks to the Jordanian Armed Forces. Speaking in Amman, Lord Gilbert said, "The United Kingdom has historic and warm relations with Jordan. I am very pleased to be able to announce the initiative to make available the Challenger 1 tank to Jordan's armed forces. This signal of support to Jordan demonstrates clearly the strength of our continuing friendship with Jordan and our confidence in HM King Abdullah's new government." A Jordanian government announcement on state-run television gave no details of the deal either in quantity or value, but said it was a 'substantial gift'. The Challenger 1 tanks are in the process of being withdrawn from the British Army following the introduction into service of Challenger 2. Government-to-Government discussions on exact numbers and delivery dates will take place over the next few months. The intent is for the Challenger 1 tanks to replace the Centurion-based Tariq Main Battle Tank. Challenger 1 will offer high levels of commonality with the Khalid Main Battle Tank currently in service with the Jordanian Armed Forces. REF XQQEE XQQMA XQQLD ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. -Thomas Huxley + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
