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[For anyone still in doubt about the true purpose of the expanded, post-Cold War NATO alliance, this feature will put any such doubt to rest. The small Czech Republic, which needs 24 supersonic fighters (at a cost of $2billion) like Afghanistan needs a navy, backs out of an arms purchase contract with Sweden because - Sweden is not yet a NATO member. What is the ineluctable message given to Gripen and other Swedish firms, ones with great influence over Sweden's elected officials?] The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Analysis: Big Czech arms deal on hold Martin Walker Chief international correspondent Published 4/27/2002 PRAGUE, Czech Republic, April 27 (UPI) -- One of Europe's biggest and most controversial arms deals, the Czech government's decision to buy 24 supersonic Gripen fighters from Sweden at a cost of nearly $2 billion, is on hold after the Czech parliament this week refused to approve the spending commitment. Officials say the deal may not survive scheduled June elections. The purchase has contained some oddities from the beginning. The Czechs decided to buy the planes as a symbol of their commitment to the NATO alliance, which the country joined in 1999. But the Swedes who manufacture the Gripen are not NATO members, and there is some question how well the fighters would operate within the rest of NATO's air fleet. The three other bidders for the deal, the American Lockheed-Martin group offering F-16s, the Eurofighter group whose aircraft is being bought by Britain and Germany, and the French Dassault company, all made the unusual decision to withdraw their offers at the last minute, amid swirling rumors of questionable procurement practices. The Czech government has dismissed the concerns, saying that the Gripen is a joint venture of the Swedish group and Britain's BAe group, whose 35 percent participation in the Gripen deal is sufficient guarantee that the fighter will be able to operate with other NATO air forces. But although British prime minister Tony Blair made a strong pitch for the Gripen deal on a recent visit to Prague, raising some eyebrows back home, the fact remains that Britain's Royal Air Force has no intention of buying the Gripen. The deal has far-reaching implications for NATO, because all three new members, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, have decided to upgrade and Westernize their formerly Soviet-made air forces at the same time. The prospect of a major sales bonanza attracted massive interest from the world's combat aircraft manufacturers. So far, the Hungarians and Czechs have gone for the Gripen, and the Poles remain undecided. With NATO now expected to bring in seven additional new members from Eastern Europe at the alliance summit in Prague in November, the promise of the enlarged NATO arms market is even more tempting. But the high cost of advanced fighter jets is a major problem for the Eastern European economies still making the difficult transition from Soviet-style central planning to free enterprise. Czech critics of the Gripen deal say the cost will derail more urgent plans to modernize the military. "The purchase will only add to the present paralysis of the Czech military budget -- with effects on the procurement system that will continue for the next three decades," Petr Vancura, director of the Prague Institute for National Security, told United Press International. "The real Czech priority is to modernize the army, not to buy a small number of high-performance fighters. The net result could be net weakening of the Czech military contribution to NATO -- which makes the British aspect of the deal all the harder to understand." BAe is the only non-American defense group to be treated by the Pentagon as virtually a U.S. national in defense procurement matters, and is a close partner of Lockheed-Martin in the development of the new "joint strike fighter". The BAe role in the Gripen deal has provoked some tension in the relationship between BAe and Lockheed-Martin, industry sources have told UPI. "The Czech Republic is already lagging in the fulfillment of its NATO obligations to modernize the army because of previous irresponsible purchases and other financial commitments of the Ministry of Defense," Vancura added. The Gripen team made a highly attractive offer, which included promises to invest more money into the Czech economy than the initial purchase price of the fighters, including promises to transfer technology that would upgrade the small Czech aeronautic industry. This aspect of the deal convinced the Social Democrat-led government to go ahead with the deal. The government has so far been unable to get parliamentary approval for the first batch of payments, however, and looks to be running out of time before scheduled elections, now just two months away. One factor in the parliament's reluctance to approve the deal has been suspicions surrounding the Gripen purchase after other bidders decided to back away from the deal. Although prime minister Milos Zeman came in on a promise to clean up widespread corruption and "put the fraudsters into jail," the Transparency International index cites the Czech Republic as one of the more corrupt countries in Europe, behind only Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Slovakia and Romania. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
