Saudi Arms Deal

[Saintsman]

At least we can be sure there were no 'inducements' to win this deal, unlike those naughty BAES people.:hmm:

US prepares to approve $60bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia | World news | The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/13/us-arms-deal-saudi-arabia)

[Basil]

So - is it "Security in the region." or "75,000 jobs." ? :rolleyes:

[Dysonsphere]

Call me a cynic but I guess its 75,000 jobs :p

[soddim]

How can anybody be sure that there were no inducements?

OK, nobody got caught yet but there are a number of Saudis whose wealth depends upon dealing with the Americans, a smaller number who profit from UK deals and an even smaller number who benefit from French deals.

Let's not delude ourselves - these contracts are not won by price or quality alone.

[Thelma Viaduct]

Can't see the problem with bribes myself within the context of what is being sold i.e. Weapons of war designed to kill people in the most efficient way possible.

The irony is obviously lost on the general public......

[Neptunus Rex]

Anyone who thinks that sizeable commissions are not paid out on such contracts must also believe in the tooth fairy.

[Exrigger]

But nobody cares who else does it, certainly not the Americans and their supporters in UK, its good and normal business apparently, as long as they are not beaten to a contract by an allegedly corrupt BAES and then everyone gets holier than than thou all of a sudden :\, you have just got to love the irony of it all :hmm:

[Jetex_Jim]

Let's not delude ourselves - these contracts are not won by price or quality alone.

Too true, when, for example, did BAE ever win a contract on price or quality?

[Ali Barber]

"The advanced sensors in the new Saudi F-15s will have fail-safes to prevent their effective use against US aircraft such as the types used by Israel."

Wasn't that one the reasons they went to Al-Yamaha in the first place?

[Modern Elmo]

"The advanced sensors in the new Saudi F-15s will have fail-safes to prevent their effective use against US aircraft such as the types used by Israel."

Not possible. If anybody thinks such fail-safes exist, please explain.

[LateArmLive]

Probably not for this forum...

[Thelma Viaduct]

Why don't A-rabs just buy more Typhoons, they have them already and are said to be a much more capable aircraft.

Plus buying from the spameritards must be like buying from your 'local' corner shop, you know you shouldn't and it makes you feel dirty, but sometimes there are no other options at 10pm on a Sunday.

Or maybe BAE have just run out of brown envelopes, best get down to that shop........:ok:

[LateArmLive]

A great advert for Typhoon! The Saudis already own some, but they'd rather buy loads of old F15s instead of any more crap from BAE :mad:

[Modern Elmo]

Probably not for this forum...

Discussion of these alleged fail-safes belongs in the same forum as does sagacious talk about devices installed on UK Trident missiles which allow the CIA or DoD to abort British Trident launches by remote control.

[Hoverstop]

"At least we can be sure there were no 'inducements' to win this deal, unlike those naughty BAES people."

I think Saintsman was probably being ironic....

[Modern Elmo]

Clausewitz: War is politics by another means.

Elmo: War is sales and marketing by another means.

[Ali Barber]

A few days ago the Telegraph reported that they would not be selling some specific weapons that would give them too much capability against the Israelis. That would be a fail-safe and I understood that it was that kind of limitation that drove them to BWoS last time.

[waldorf]

Q: What is the difference between bribery and commission?

A: Timing!

Discuss....

[Willard Whyte]

Hmm, nothing to do with putting one of their princes in the nonces* wing then?

*It may not be, he'd probably enjoy it too much.

[jindabyne]

Load of b****cks here, again. Play another record.

[Dengue_Dude]

Load of b****cks here, again. Play another record.

Two's up.

Join the real world - if you buy cars and they 'discount' the sale to get your business - what's the difference (other than the scale)?

[Modern Elmo]

... its good and normal business apparently, as long as they are not beaten to a contract by an allegedly corrupt BAES and then everyone gets holier than than thou all of a sudden

So, you agree that in order to avoid any impropriety or allegations of wrongdoing, BAE and other British arms firms should not try to sell weaponry to Saudi A. or to the P. Gulf Gity-states?

[Modern Elmo]

Wednesday's announcement revealed that it would include up to 1,000 one-ton bunker-buster bombs, which would "enhance the capability of Saudi Arabia's air force to bomb hardened bunkers and tunnels, such as those that the West believes are used by Iran to hide nuclear and ballistic missile programs," reports the [Wall Street] Journal.


And while such a massive arms sale in past decades would have drawn severe opposition from Israel, now experts say that Israeli and Saudi interests are so similarly aligned against Iran that Israel is amenable to the deal.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel is not expected to object to the arms deal, despite some reservations, as it does not threaten Israel's military advantage in the Middle East. However, Israel is "not thrilled about it," said spokesman Jonathan Peled of the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

( Rumors of an Israeli-Saudi pact against Eye-ran.... )

...

According to the US Government Accountability Office, the US sold up to $37 billion in arms to Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait from 2005 to 2009.


Eyeing Iran, US details $60 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia - CSMonitor.com (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/1021/Eyeing-Iran-US-details-60-billion-arms-sale-to-Saudi-Arabia)

Gotta get some benefit out of Americans getting killed and maimed over there.