-Caveat Lector-
Christian Science Monitor
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1999
USA
Arms sales: exporting US
military edge?
Pentagon backs an unusual sale in which
an ally gets better planes than US pilots fly.
Justin Brown
Special to The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON
In one of the biggest US arms exports since
the end of the cold war, a small sheikdom in
the Persian Gulf is expected to receive 80
fighter jets with more-advanced technology
than in those flown by American pilots.
The deal between Lockheed Martin Corp.
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
which is expected to be final soon, comes as
the US government has been loosening
export controls to boost a defense industry
hurt by a drop in military orders, analysts
say.
The result of the new US attitude is that, in
some cases, purchasing countries have
greater leverage over American sellers -
and they can now get advanced weapons
that once were reserved for the closest US
allies.
The concern is that friends can become
foes, and secrets can be stolen.
In this latest deal, the UAE, an oil-rich ally
from the Gulf War with a population of 2.3
million, would get F-16s that have a range,
radar ability, targeting accuracy, and
avionics capability that are superior to the
US F-16s.
F-16 FIGHTER: In one of the
biggest arms exports since the
cold war, the United Arab
Emirates would get F-16s like this
one, but with more-advanced
technology than those flown by
US pilots.
AP
"We're losing control of technology, and
we're giving foreign countries better stuff
than our own kids have," says Lawrence
Korb, a former assistant secretary of
Defense who advocates reduced military
spending.
The significance of this deal - and its
importance to the US - was underscored by
Vice President Al Gore's presence at a May
ceremony announcing the preliminary sales
agreement, which is thought to be worth $7
billion to $8 billion. More talks have been
scheduled this month, according to a
Pentagon source.
If completed, it would be the first transaction
in which a foreign country would pay an
American company to develop and receive
significant new technology.
Military officials say they have never
scrutinized an arms sale as closely as this
one and that the upgraded F-16s, even if
they fell into the wrong hands, would never
be a threat to US fighter pilots. They argue
that the financial compensation will be a
major boost for Lockheed Martin and the
US taxpayer at a time when defense
spending is well off its cold war high.
"These international sales are largely
sustaining our defense industry during a time
when we're not buying [too many aircraft],"
says a senior military official who asked for
anonymity.
The UAE deal also has regional security
implications. The military says doing
business there will strengthen the US
foothold in the Persian Gulf region, which
includes Iran and Iraq.
"It will give us more access to airfields in the
region," says the military official.
But according to Natalie Goldring, who
heads a University of Maryland
disarmament program, more arms mean
more danger. "Stability is not ensured by
arms races," she says. "History is pretty
sure on this."
The loosening of export controls can be
traced to a 1995 Clinton administration
arms-transfer policy that sets as a sales
criteria "the impact [on] US industry and the
defense-industrial base."
The Middle East has been America's leading
arms customer dating back to the
establishment of Israel in 1948 and the days
when Iran was considered an ally. As oil
prices dropped and Middle Eastern
economies tanked, however, more business
moved to Asia. But Asia also got hit by an
economic crisis, and today weapons
producers are having more trouble finding
customers.
Competition has also increased. With fighter
aircraft, for instance, there is more or less
technological parity between the US,
Europe, and Russia - one reason the
Pentagon is currently developing a new trio
of planes.
Finally, the end of the cold war slowed
purchases by the US government and made
exporting more crucial for the survival of
arms producers. To gain a lion's share of the
international market, the US companies have
had to look much harder for new customers.
"Once the cold war ended, there were no
longer ideological reasons for selling
weapons," says Luke Warren, a military
analyst for the Council for a Livable World
Education Fund. "Now the defense industry
has to export to maintain profit margins."
Whereas previously the US would sell arms
that were one generation behind top of the
line, it is now more willing to sell from
current generations.
Moreover, the US is becoming less
discerning in choosing to whom it sells,
critics charge. Although the UAE is
considered a reliable friend in a volatile
region, it is not a core ally like Britain.
In the case of the UAE deal, officials there
played Lockheed Martin against other
international aircraft producers, and may
have come away with more-advanced
technology than the US would have
otherwise given.
And when the UAE wasn't satisfied with
how much the US was accommodating it
with technology, it threatened to reopen talks
with a French aircraft producer.
Analysts worry that the UAE sale could set
a dangerous precedent in which the US
needs to reveal more and more technology
to complete a deal.
The Israelis are reportedly asking for an
unprecedented software transfer in an $800
million Apache Longbow attack helicopter
package. Australia is requesting source
codes for an Airborne Early Warning and
Control System, and Singapore wants source
codes for the F-16.
Nevertheless, US military officials are
confident that selling high-tech equipment
and weapons benefits the arms industry
more than it harms national security.
They also look forward to new equipment
lines, such as the F-22 fighter jet, which will
be vastly superior to today's weapons for
sale.
"I am not going to sell anything to anyone
that can beat us," says the military official.
"We understand the importance of air power
very, very well."
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