Military AircrewA forum for the professionals who fly the non-civilian hardware, and the backroom boys and girls without whom nothing would leave the ground. Army, Navy and Airforces of the World, all equally welcome here.
"A government spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday the UK claims repayment of a debt owed by the Argentine government. The £ 45 million (71 million dollars) were lent to the country’s (1976/1983) military Junta in 1979.
The money was reportedly used, in part, to buy weapons and equipment some of which were later used at the Malvinas war, “including two Lynx helicopters and two Type 42 warships,” as the newspaper Financial Times stated as it broke the story on Monday."
What £45million then worth now? Enough to buy another Type 45?
But we got a some good radars, guns and Helicopters off the Argies for free. Of course we then had problems getting support from the people who sold that kit to the Argies cause they hadn't been paid for what they sold either.
Is it true that mercedes officially refused to support the 'acquired' merc g wagon (that is now in Cosford?) due to the fact it was not paid for?
I had a similar experience with one of the Mercs, when my local garage contacted Mercedes with the chassis number etc to get spares they were asked how they had obtained the vehicle, where was it, did they know that it had not been paid for etc. They did however supply the required spares and the vehicle was allocated a Q plate(vehicle of unknown origin) by the local DVLA office, who in fact were very helpful at the time and the vehicle was used for about 10 years on the road. In fact we ended up with 2 more liberated G-Wagons over the following years and all 3 are currently held in store for possible future use. Until we got the third example I had not realised that there were 2 versions, short and long wheel base, we realised it when we tried to load it on a trailer, but thats another story.
Is it true that mercedes officially refused to support the 'acquired' merc g wagon (that is now in Cosford?) due to the fact it was not paid for?
That's how I understand it. Mercedes were also a bit miffed at the size of the next contract for vehicles that went to the usual Solihul based supplier of muddy wheels. Especially so when they were told that if they hadn't been so stubborn about the G Wagon spares (For all those we found on the islands not just the one now at Cosford) they would have got the contract for the new vehicles.
"Is it true that mercedes officially refused to support the 'acquired' merc g wagon"
they also attempted to sue Argentina for payment in the German courts only to to be told that foreign military sales on credit weren't legal in Germany thus the debt wasn't recoverable.
The UK Government should never have lent the Junta the money in the first place.
The Junta was never elected by the Argentine people, so expecting the Argentine people to now pay back the loan is wrong. The UK government should do credit checks before they start lending money to dictatorships!
Besides the war prizes, Argentina have made certain payments in advance of other Lynxs and other military hardware. The contract was halted and no money came back.
Also, some Rolls Royce engines for MB-339 were on overhaul in the UK and never returned.
