[WCUSP] US weapons & techno-how fuel Israel's military

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

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US weapons, know-how fuel Israel's  military
_http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19245533.htm_ 
(http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19245533.htm) 
 
19 Jul 2006 22:02:10 GMT  
Source: Reuters
 
By Jim Wolf  
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - Israel's latest military operations  reflect 
a fighting machine bolstered by U.S. weaponry, jet fuel and technology  
transfers -- and more is on its way.  
>From 1971 through 2005, U.S. aid to Israel has averaged more than $2  billion 
a year, two-thirds of which has been military assistance, according to  the 
U.S. Congressional Research Service.  
U.S. military grants to Israel totaled $2.28 billion in fiscal 2006  ending 
Sept. 30, according to a new tally in the Washington Report on Middle  Eastern 
Affairs, a nonpartisan magazine.  
The U.S.-supplied arsenal includes F-16 Falcon fighters built by Lockheed  
Martin Corp. <LMT.N> and Boeing Co. <BA.N>-built F-15 Eagle fighters  and AH-64 
Apache attack helicopters.  
Deliveries of Israel's latest order of 102 F-16Is -- a special variant  built 
at a reported cost of $4.2 billion -- are to be completed by the end of  
2008.  
The F-16I, dubbed "Soufa" or "Storm" in Hebrew, features modern cockpit  
displays with moving maps, "smart" weapons compatibility and updated navigation  
and targeting systems.  
Such warplanes have been battering targets in Lebanon in an eight-day-old  
siege aimed at degrading the capabilities of Hizbollah fighters raining rockets  
on Israel.  
JET FUEL  
The Pentagon notified Congress on Friday that it planned to sell Israel  JP-8 
aviation fuel valued at up to $210 million to help its aircraft "keep peace  
and security in the region."  
Israel sought the fuel about six months ago as part of a continuing  purchase 
program, a knowledgeable Pentagon official said.  
The last time an Israeli jet fuel request triggered a congressional  
notification was in September 2004. The threshold for such notice in Israel's  case is 
$50 million. Israel's previous, congressionally notified, request sought  
fuel worth up to $102 million if all options were exercised.  
Israel also may be in the market for a batch of 25 F-15I Ra'am fighters  to 
add to a first squadron delivered in 1998, said Tom Baranauskas of Forecast  
International, a Newton, Connecticut, aerospace and defense market consultancy.  
The F-15Is would likely be Israel's choice for any strikes it might carry  
out on Iranian facilities suspected of harboring nuclear capabilities, he said.  
Israel is now testing Stryker eight-wheeled combat vehicles built by  General 
Dynamics Corp. <GD.N>, the U.S. Army's first such new addition  since the 
Abrams tank in the 1980s, and mulling the Littoral Combat Ship, an  industry 
source said.  
The ship, rival versions of which are built by General Dynamics and  Lockheed 
Martin, is designed to meet such threats as speedboats that could be  turned 
into suicide weapons.  
Also being marketed to Israel is a Northrop Grumman Corp. <NOC.N>  chemical 
laser designed to protect high-value targets from rockets, mortars and  other 
incoming threats.  
Dubbed Skyguard, it grew from the Tactical High Energy Laser, or THEL, a  
joint U.S.-Israeli project in which the U.S. Army sunk $139 million before  
opting for more mobile systems.  
The United States also has helped underwrite Israel's domestic arms  makers. 
Since 1988, it has provided Israel more than $1 billion to develop and  deploy 
the Arrow anti-ballistic missile shield in a technology-sharing deal. 



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