via Defense.gov
Given many shared threats in the region, including Iran, Syria, terrorism, border issues and other challenges, the president wanted Panetta “to look at ways not just to protect Israel’s qualitative military edge, which is a key principle of American policy, but to increase the capabilities of Israel in a significant and meaningful way and in doing so increase the capabilities of key partner nations,” he added.The MV-22 buy doesn't make sense for Israel and I wonder if they actually pushed for the buy or if it was pushed on them.
The series of sensitive bilateral negotiations took place over the past year and resulted in agreements, reached also through consultations with Congress, to approve requests by Israel for advanced radar for Israeli jet fighters, antiradiation missiles, KC-135 refueling tankers, and a to-be-determined number of V-22 Ospreys, the official said, a capability that the United States has never sold to any other country.
The United States is making these capabilities available for Israeli purchase, the official said, adding that U.S. funding for Israel’s security needs has been unprecedented, even in an austere budget environment.
“This year the United States provided $3.1 billion in foreign military financing to Israel, the highest the United States has ever provided,” he said. In addition, the United States provides about $300 million in missile defense to Israel, the official noted.
Elsewhere in the region, in 2010 Saudi Arabia agreed to purchase 84 F-15 tactical fighters in a deal worth $29.4 billion, the official said, and the first F-15s have rolled off the line in St. Louis and are undergoing flight testing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
During Hagel’s trip, the UAE is expected to move forward with the purchase of 25 F-16 Block 60 Desert Falcon fighters manufactured by Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. The expected value of the sale is $425 billion, the official said.
“As part of these sales,” he added, “the United States is agreeing to deploy standoff weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.” Such smart weapons can navigate to their targets and are more precise and can be fired at further distances.
The MV-22 is for want of a better word, a boutique capability that really doesn't fit into Israeli defense schemes. Many tout its capability to insert special ops personnel deep in enemy territory but recon of enemy defenses are better carried out by other assets. If you're talking about strikes or raids by Israeli special ops then again, destruction of enemy installations are better done by other means.
Additionally the Israelis are big users of the CH-53 and have made no bones about their desire to acquire the CH-53K as soon as it rolls off the assembly line.
I think that this sale is simply cover for fighters to Egypt and the continued selling of high tech arms to other countries in the Middle East.
Unfortunately for Israel, Arab countries will soon achieve NEAR qualitative equality and will still have numerical superiority which will endanger the Jewish state. All it will take is a madman to again unify the Arabs and the only choice the Israelis will have is to either see their country destroyed OR to go nuclear.
The ground is being laid for the next Middle Eastern war between Israel and its neighbors and from the look of the sales to Arab countries it will be a bloody affair.
Israelis do not buy in US they are given free stuff + cash to cover any expenses for lobying. Israelis own US politicians to the degree that seems crazy to the rest of the world
ReplyDeletei'm looking at this through the lens of Israel buying stuff with their dollars. whether they're aid dollars or not isn't part of this discussion.
DeleteWho cares? Israel has the capabilities to defend herself, why worry about what weapons they get? In the six day war the Arabs had the same capabilities, maybe even greater and they still lost. Israel has nukes so the Arabs wont get far and they know it. Worry more about our dictator and chief and the future of America, not Israel.
ReplyDeletehey. quick question. who the fuck are you to tell me what to write on my own damn blog. you, SFERRIN and others like you can kiss my ass.
DeleteDid I say what to post on your blog? I don't think so, I said who cares what Israel buys. If that's telling you what to post then you need to get your head examined. If Israel buys V-22s then that's what they want. If it was paid for through U.S. tax paying money, they get what they get. They're lucky they're still receiving military aid, even though they're country is over 60 years old!
DeleteI'm not sure but they might actually be more interested in the CV-22 version and will be probably souping them up with locally made IDAS and tech. The usage is specific and very much in the realm of a niche capability...long range raiding by special forces.
ReplyDeleteThe Ch-53's are all well and good operating in their immediate backyard but they need the extra range and speed to be able to go into say Egypt or Yemen or indeed Iran. Don't expect a big buy, given the limited use I wouldn't bet on more than a squadron's worth maybe 25 tops.
Most foreign buyers (if they find any more) will be thinking about the same capabilities. The MV-22 is far too much machine for any force outside the USMC and thus becomes an expensive luxury. The CV-22 however is much more attractive and represents a set of capabilities unmatched by anything short of the MC-130's in terms of deep penetration raiding.
My 2 cents
i just don't think the deep raid is viable anymore. say you do insert special ops deep inside iran or yemen. a properly equipped C-130 would do a better and faster job. hell even a properly equipped gulf stream should be viable in the role. extraction maybe but then again you're going to be risking a ton of aircraft to do it safely with a poor payoff.
Deleteeven for the US i think the deep raid by SOCOM personnel is a fantasy mission. why would anyone take the chance of sending a man when they can send a drone or missile instead?
Israel has earned some slack on the merits of the hardware they "buy" from the US. However Israel has interests reaching to Cyprus now that they are in the Shale Oil Revolution. CV-22 could come in real handy to protect their offshore interests with quick insertion of troops. Syria is now part of Israel sphere of operations now that Assad has lost control of most of the country and Iran is moving in to claim what Assad has lost. To the point, Israel sphere of operation has vastly expanded and the MV/CV-22 offers huge lift, great speed and range. It seems perfectly fitted to Israel's challenges.
ReplyDeleteI wish we would stop supporting Israel, reality whats in it for us
ReplyDeletepeter X
DeleteAbsolutely true, Israel has the means to defend herself, even Netanyahu said they don't need aid anymore.
What else can you use to rescue shot down pilots?
ReplyDeleteI really wouldnt worry about the Arabians, Irans giving them trouble, they intend to quite literally bomb them back to the stone age should anything kick off.
You could deploy a couple of infantry companies and some engineers to Aswan using MV22s.
Mine the dam and you can kiss Cairo goodbye.
Why the risk. Just use cruise missiles?
DeleteEven with the best of what the Soviets or the West provided in arms, Arab nations have yet to demonstrate an ability to use them effectively because they have always lacked the ability to educate competent officers and senior NCOs. Good soldiers, competent generals on occasion, but mid-level officers are selected for loyalty and not competence.
ReplyDeleteArabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 by Pollack is a good read.
It will be interesting to see if the Arab Spring pays dividends in terms of opening up Arab societies to talented, educated people or if it simply relies on more patronage but by Islamic parties.
Israel showed a vulnerability in its war against the hezbollah on the lebanon border years ago. if i remember correctly they were ate up in anti-tank ambushes. long story short, Israel has suffered just like the US Army, combined action has suffered in the COIN war. it remains to be seen how the Army reacts to engaging a force on force exercise against mechanized forces led by tanks with integrated infantry.
Deleteand the Israeli's know it. The Winograd report took the pols and the generals to task which prompted a massive series of reforms. they dropped the effects-based ops 'shock and awe' bullshit and re-discovered combined arms.
DeletePlus, it was nearly seven years ago and in that time, the IDF has been very active in emphasizing combined arms exercises, insisting reservists taking part in those exercises (and not in policing the occupied territory), adding new systems like Namer, Trophy AD, etc.
The whole approach to the 2006 Lebanon invasion was that it was intended as a impromotu punitive measure with poor planning and intel.
The IDF won't make that mistake again. The next time they pay Hezbollah a visit , they go in heavy with a plan and intel in a massive combined arms campaign.
also important to keep in mind is Hezbollah has maybe 20K combatants tops (with reserves) and is a lot easier to train and equip than an army of several hundred thousand.