U.S. Arms Sales Climbing Rapidly

[DogPoundPup]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is pushing through a broad array of foreign weapons deals as it seeks to rearm Iraq and Afghanistan, contain North Korea and Iran, and solidify ties with onetime Russian allies.

From tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal year to sell or transfer more than $32 billion in weapons and other military equipment to foreign governments, compared with $12 billion in 2005.

The trend, which started in 2006, is most pronounced in the Middle East, but it reaches into northern Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and even Canada, through dozens of deals that senior Bush administration officials say they are confident will both tighten military alliances and combat terrorism.

“This is not about being gunrunners,” said Bruce S. Lemkin, the Air Force deputy under secretary who is helping to coordinate many of the biggest sales. “This is about building a more secure world.”

The surging American arms sales reflect the foreign policy tides, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the broader campaign against international terrorism, that have dominated the Bush administration. Deliveries on orders now being placed will continue for several years, perhaps as one of President Bush’s most lasting legacies.

The United States is far from the only country pushing sophisticated weapons systems: it is facing intense competition from Russia and elsewhere in Europe, including continuing contests for multibillion-dollar deals to sell fighter jets to India and Brazil.

In that booming market, American military contractors are working closely with the Pentagon, which acts as a broker and procures arms for foreign customers through its Foreign Military Sales program.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/washington/14arms.html?hp

[whistle]

1. Economy booster, are these arms going into friendly hands?

[tanyev]

7. You think they care?

More weapons in unfriendly hands will make them even more money in the long run.

[d_b]

2. and why not

how long has our economy been rigged on selling guns and making war?

[AndyTiedye]

3. Not Much Else We Make Here Anymore, Is There?

[TaranAlvein]

4. That's a very BAD sign...

This sudden liquidation of military assets to all takers, even if they might want to kill us, is exactly the kind of thing that started some time before the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is a dire warning sign, if you ask me.

[provis99]

5. machine guns and pistols will intimidate North Korea?

They've got NUCLEAR BOMBS!

This is about the military-industrial complex, not the bullshit reasons about improving security.

[slackmaster]

13. Article cited in the OP doesn't even mention small arms

Please read it.

[Steelworker In OH]

6. Didn't we do this before??

Yeah, I think I remember us bailing out afganastan years ago when they were at war with russia.... in fact I think obama was our "friend" back then.... gee, look what good that did us....

[bdab1973]

10. A few clarifications to your post....

First off, it's Osama, not Obama. And Osama wasn't really so much our "friend", rather he was the enemy of our enemy and we basically turned a blind eye to him. As far as "bailing out afganastan (sic)", we didn't arm the nation of Afghanistan, we gave small arms and portable missiles to the resistance (that morphed into the Taliban, al Qaeda and other splinter groups...oh, and by the way, the "Northern Alliance" was part of that resistance too). The most serious threat to US forces now would be the Stinger portable anti-aircraft missiles, however many of these systems are now going on 20 years old, and if they haven't been used already, their batteries used to operate them are likely old and barely functioning.

In any case, having flown over Afghanistan in the past few years, the Stinger is not the most serious threat out there. Russian arms outnumbers any US-supplied weaponry 10 to 1, would be my educated guess. Everything I've seen, read and heard about has been Russian-made.

[Steelworker In OH]

14. Whoops

I feel like a complete jackass for my mistakes in that post... lol, i guess i shouldn't post after only a few hours of sleep and no coffee. The editing period is expired or i would go back and change a few things. sorry.

[bemildred]

8. More work on Bush's "legacy". nt

[bemildred]

9. U.S. to sell Israel Air Force new bunker-buster bombs

Despite reservations in Washington regarding a possible Israeli strike on Iran, the American administration will supply Israel with sophisticated weapons for heavily fortified targets, the U.S. administration announced.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced it would sell the Israel Air Force 1,000 new smart bombs, rumored to significantly enhance the IAF's military capabilities. The deal was approved amid public and secret messages from Washington, with the Americans expressing their reservations about a possible Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic's suspected nuclear sites.

The Pentagon's announcement, which came on Friday, said the U.S. will provide Israel with 1,000 units of Guided Bomb Unit-39 (GBU-39) - a special weapon developed for penetrating fortified facilities located deep underground. The $77 million shipment, which includes launchers and appurtenances, will allow the IAF to hit many more bunkers than currently possible. Although each bomb weighs 113 kilograms, its penetration capabilities equal those of a one ton bomb, according to professional literature.

Most U.S. Air Force aircraft are able to carry a pack of four of these bombs in place of a single one-ton bomb. The bomb's small size allows a single-strike aircraft to carry more of the munitions than is possible utilizing currently available bomb units, thus increasing firepower, or, alternatively, allowing the aircraft to fly longer distances to deliver a single bomb.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020702.html

[Skwmom]

11. Sure, everyone wants to stock up now in case the end of times lunatics take over.

[Javaman]

12. "quick sell more bullets, it's the only think left in the warehouse!!!"nt

[bdab1973]

15. Russia is by far the most prolific arms trader

Sure, Russia doesn't "make" as much money per se, but that has much to do with the fact that 1) Russian-made arms are much cheaper than US-made arms, and 2) much of the Russian sales happen under the table. It's UNBELIEVABLE how much Russian-made stuff I've seen circulating out there. They really don't care who they sell to either. Sure, the US has sold weapons to notional "allies" that may have turned on us (Pakistan, Venezuela, etc), but we have a process that somewhat vets who we sell to. Most of the really good stuff we sell goes to our NATO allies. A large percentage of sales we make are made to countries like the UK, Germany, Spain, Poland, Canada, Australia, etc.

Russian-made equipment, on the other hand, is routinely sold to countries such as North Korea, Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and lots of small arms, machine guns and explosives are sold on the black market to anyone with cash. The Russians really don't give a shit who buys their stuff.

France is another country that doesn't quite vet it's arms sales either, although it's a far cry from Russia. Much of what used to be considered "French" is now sold under the banner of the EU, so the sales of European weapon systems may be a little better controlled now than it was 10 or 20 years ago.

As far as countries like Iraq, it's really up to the Iraqi military to decide where to buy their equipment. My experience working with the Iraqi Air Force on re-equipping their air arm has shown that they feel comfortable with Russian-made stuff, but they want the added capability of US-made stuff. So many of them are torn. That, and Russian aircraft are so insanely cheap and easy to get. There's no FMS process to go through, which is the process the US has to determine what we can and cannot sell to a certain country. It can be a pretty lengthy process, whereas the Russians say "hey, you want an airplane? Just tell us what you want, we'll build it for you".

Just as a comparison, the new Lockheed C-130J costs about $81 million. A similar Antonov AN-12 costs about $6-8 million (they are no longer in production), and the new-build AN-70 runs about $41 million. Russia has a pretty big industry refurbishing and reselling used military aircraft too, at bargain prices.

Before we all jump on the "America is king in selling arms" bandwagon, I'd like to mention these points.