A competition to sell the Israel Air Force’s new advanced combat trainers is heating up as a Korean defense delegation plans to arrive in Israel next month to sign an agreement paving the way for increased cooperation and potentially $5 billion in sales for Israeli companies.
The agreement is part of a South Korean effort to persuade Israel to select Korean Aerospace Industries’ (KAI’s) T-50 advanced trainer as the replacement for the IAF’s aging fleet of A-4 Skyhawks, which are currently used to train cadets in their advanced pilot training.
Competing against the T-50 is Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master.
KAI alone has offered Israel over $1b. in industrial cooperation if its aircraft is chosen.
The remaining deals are expected from the Korean government.
The agreement is part of a South Korean effort to persuade Israel to select Korean Aerospace Industries’ (KAI’s) T-50 advanced trainer as the replacement for the IAF’s aging fleet of A-4 Skyhawks, which are currently used to train cadets in their advanced pilot training.
Competing against the T-50 is Italy’s Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master.
KAI alone has offered Israel over $1b. in industrial cooperation if its aircraft is chosen.
The remaining deals are expected from the Korean government.
“Potential cooperation could be on the T-50, our helicopters and other programs,” Enes Park, senior executive vice-president of marketing for KAI, told The Jerusalem Post last week during a visit to company headquarters.
Park said that KAI was also in talks with Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems about possibly establishing joint ventures that could lead to fat contracts for Israeli defense contractors.
IAI is interested in manufacturing the wings for all T- 50s sold throughout the world and Elbit has been offered to develop a new flight simulator for the aircraft.
The competition has received a great deal of media attention due to claims by Korea that Italy has received preferred treatment throughout the tender. Park said that KAI was surprised to hear that the Italian government was proposing additional deals to Israel before the request for proposal (RFP) had been issued.
The RFP – a mandatory stage in a tender – was supposed to be issued to the companies over the summer but has been postponed until early 2012. The IAF has conducted extensive reviews of both planes and the decision on the winner is up to the Defense Ministry. Industrial cooperation and economic benefits for Israeli companies are playing a key role in the ministry’s considerations.
“We were surprised to hear that the Italian government is already proposing deals to Israel before the RFP, against international standards,” Park said.
Italy had been a frontrunner in the tender due to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s close ties with Silvio Berlusconi, who stepped down as Italy’s prime minister last week. It is unclear what effect his departure will have on the deal.
The Italians’ bid also took a hit last week after an M-346 crashed off the coast of Dubai. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
KAI has found support among leading Israeli defense companies which are lobbying the Defense Ministry to select the T-50 due to the potential contracts they stand to win in return from Seoul.
The Korean military is interested, for example, in purchasing the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system, in upgrades for its combat aircraft, in new drones, anti-tank missiles and in new command-and-control systems.
Italy has also offered Israel an industrial cooperation package but it is estimated to be under $1b. In addition, some Israeli industry executives have cast doubt as to the viability of future deals with Italy which is facing a dire economic crisis.
Italy has also raised the possibility of conducting the deal with Israel by barter under which it would receive two airborne early warning and control aircraft from IAI and in exchange would provide Israel with the M-346.
As we stand on the verge of world war, fomented by the ZIOCONNED British empire, we see two pathways laid out ahead. Some see, as German Chancellor Bismarck in the late 1880's, and Kaiser Wilhelm II after him, the makings of a trap laid for those nations of the planet which have been successful in developing. Now, nations such as Russia and China can see the writing on the wall, as potentially catastrophic provocations arise all around them. Uprisings in Syria, the confrontation with Iran, the missile shield in Eastern Europe, and the installation of a new military base in Australia near the South China Sea, are all pointed at the creation of a new global war, caused by the hyper-inflationary collapse of the Transatlantic financial system, which, once incited anywhere, would lead quickly to thermonuclear warfare aimed at the destruction of the United States, Russia, and China, and the reduction of the world's population to about one billion. This is the tried and true method of operation of the British empire, whose model of destroying adversaries by launching continental wars can be seen in the creation of the Seven Years War, the manipulation of Europe and Japan during the 1890-1914 period resulting in World Wars I and II, followed by the sabotage of Roosevelt's post-war global development plans, causing instead the Cold War and the prevention of the long-awaiting US-Russian alliance from blooming, and the development of Eurasia to occur. The only way to stop this war-path of the British empire is to remove Obama from office immediately.....
Defense Authorization bill allows for military detentions of American citizens in the US.
Israel has reached a $1 billion preliminary deal to buy 30 Italian military training jets, Israeli defense officials said Thursday, providing a long-awaited upgrade to what is widely viewed as the most advanced air force in the Middle East.
The agreement, which still needs formal government approval, marked the end of a long competition between Italy and South Korea over the lucrative sale.
Israel announced it would buy the M-346, made by the Italian company Alenia Aermacchi and designed for low-cost flights. The aircraft will replace American Skyhawks, which the Israeli Air Force has trained with for 40 years. As early as 2008, the Israeli air force announced it needed to replace the antiquated jets.
Italy will reciprocate the Israeli purchase by buying $1 billion in Israeli defense equipment, Israel's Defense Ministry said.
The ministry's director general, Udi Shani, said the offset deal enabled Israel to make the large purchase in a "harsh budgetary reality."
South Korea hoped to sell its T-50 aircraft to Israel and had issued a $1.6 billion counteroffer including buying the expensive Iron Dome anti-rocket system, defense officials said. As Israel considered its options, South Korea complained about a lack of transparency in the deal.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal deliberations.
In a letter to South Korea, Shani wrote that "after close analysis of both the proposals, and at the conclusion of a long and comprehensive review process, it was decided that the Italian proposal was the most efficient choice for Israel's Ministry of Defense."
He cited the suitability of the jets to the "direct needs" of the Israeli air force, the cost and the "significant offset conditions."
The deal only has initial approval and needs official authorization from Israel's defense minister, the government, and the Israeli parliament. Defense officials said they expect the agreement to get the final green light, and the planes to be delivered in 2014.
Alenia Aermacchi noted that the aircraft has just been delivered to the Italian air force and, shortly, will also be in service with Singapore's military.
"We would like to thank the Israeli Ministry of Defense for their trust in and their choice of the M-346, a fact that confirms the product's excellence," Alenia Aermacchi's CEO Giuseppe Giordo said in a statement.
Israeli possesses a sophisticated air force of U.S.-made F-15 and F-16 warplanes, and its pilots spend considerable time on training flights. Even reservists, for instance, must spend one day a week in the air. Officials said the new planes would be critical for Israel to maintain its edge.
The need for a strong air force is especially critical at a time when Israel has been hinting at potential military action against Iran's nuclear program.
Military analyst Yiftach Shapir of the Institute for National Security Studies said the new planes would give an important boost, noting the aging Skyhawks are "long past their life service."
"Training will be better, pilots will be better prepared for the combat aircraft they will be flying, and everything will be cheaper because the aging aircraft really needed a lot of maintenance," he said.
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