F22 Raptors to be sold to Israel?

F22 Raptors to be sold to Israel?

www.jpost.com

The F-22 "Raptor" has long been regarded as a tremendous potential asset in any Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, given its ability to penetrate even the most sophisticated radar and other defense systems.

Officials reportedly brought up the possibility of a repeal of the sales ban in meetings at the White House during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's trip to Washington this week, though his aides declined to confirm the details of the conversations.

"I'm a strong supporter of Israel getting all the material and equipment they need," said Berman, a California Democrat who assumed the chairmanship after the death of Tom Lantos earlier this year. In terms of dropping the ban on F-22 sales, he said, "I certainly would look at it."

(visit the link for the full news article)


[edit on 6-6-2008 by mattguy404]

Well, isn't this interesting. Australia, and other US allies, weren't allowed to buy the Raptors because of the strict export ban.

We signed up for the F35 Lightening II, which as far as I know can't even fly yet, and now a special case is made for Israel for the F22 - most likely so they can strike Iran.

www.jpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

good to know that F-22 will be sold , because then the technology specifications will end up ultimately in the hands of chinese or indians or russians

and soon R & D of F-22 will go waste

I agree with what manson_322 said. I think it would be a disaster if Israel ended up with the F-22 anytime soon. Not to mention how insulting it would be to real allies of the US like Australia.

But, considering that the Bush regime is controlled by the Israeli's, I wouldn't be surprised if Bush secretly pushed it through towards the end of his Presidency. I'm sure he will recieve a few million for his troubles.

reply to post by manson_322


got to hand it to Israel, even when they back hand slap the US they still get the gear to secretly sell or to modify and then sell as its own design

reply to post by bodrul


NAME ONE WAY ISRAEL HAS BACK HAND SLAPPED THE US.

reply to post by mattguy404


Infact the Lighting II is flying, but I do agree Australia has now signed on for this and it would cost them a massive penalty to change over if the 22 is released to Israel.

However the 22 cost is going through the roof and this could be one of the reasons to hand them over so the cost is lower.

By the end of this month the contract for the Lighting II's tailwing assembly that will be built in Australia will be made public.

Has Australia actually commited to buying the F-35? I thought the decision was still under review.

reply to post by cnm1976


Thanks for the info, I actually forgot I started this thread, it's good to get some updated info.

I was reading that the F22's manufacturing costs were going to be astronomical. Coupled with the cost of breaking Australia's contract after the review was made, it doesn't seem possible to reverse the decision.

Perhaps the previous government made the decision too soon? I'm not sure whether or not Australia immediately needed a 5th gen fighter, anyway.

What we definitely need is good reconnaissance given the vast amount of coastline. The JSF 35 might fit that bill okay, but it seems like an extremely confusing and expensive exercise.

Shame, I really like the Raptor. But it looks like we're set for the F-35.

It sounds as if we are preparing our allies for war.

The main question is, will we be selling all of the tech that goes with the 22. It is possible for us to sell the 22 as a base system without some of its special electronics system. I hope this is the case, we really need to keep some tech for ourselves.

Do you think its any coincidence that we'd sell this to Israel? Oh, and who is in Georgia? Israelis!!!

And what about Norway. I live here and there has been a lot of discussions what to buy. Eurofighter we cant buy, they don't wanna sell because they say the norwegian government is much to pro-american. And yeah, i agree... Then we have the jas gripen from sweden, that can land on roads, don't even need a airstrip, that is great And we get a few billion in contracts as well...

Then we have the F-35... I am pretty sure we gonna end up with that one because we are way to connected to the US on all levels.. But seriously, Israel can by 22 and we can't because we are a risk?

Something is very fishy here...

reply to post by Koskov


nah Norway will likely buy the Gripen-N and Denmark the very similar Gripen-DK

Won't happen Isreal is pressing for it no doubt but selling it to them would be the equivalent of just handing them to china.
I don't think Isreal could even be trusted with the F35 myself and would be against them getting even a cheapened export version of that.

If anyone should be sold the F22's it's Georgia they need them more.

Selling the F-22 to anyone let alone Israel would be a huge error imo. Israel have a history of selling off US tech to the Chinese, even with guarantees i think it would be unwise, keep it domestic , at least for the time being.

Originally posted by Shamanator
Won't happen Isreal is pressing for it no doubt but selling it to them would be the equivalent of just handing them to china.
I don't think Isreal could even be trusted with the F35 myself and would be against them getting even a cheapened export version of that.

If anyone should be sold the F22's it's Georgia they need them more.

You need to know that Georgia is made up of mainly Israelis. So, there would be no point of selling to Georgia and not selling to Israel.

Also, you need to remember, that nations are getting ready for the large holy war. Iran wants to bring on this war with Israel. I think this hubub with Georgia is the predeccesor to war with Israel.

This could get nasty.