Harrier jump-jets sold 'for peanuts'

[nikimcbee]

So are you chaps totally disarming then? Becareful, New Zeland may annex you your lebensraum.

What about the Scots?

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

I am being informed that Thailand are interested only in the twin seat trainers so that is a 'no no' and India are interested in taking the lot but it may be down to the US to lift any classified status on some of the equipment before they could be exported/sold.

Could all be speculation so I'm keeping an open mind.

I wonder why India would bother? They are getting out of the Jump Jet business last I saw, they are moving over to the MiG-29K and a Navalized version of the multirole HAL Tejas.

I had always thought it a military requirement that before any weapons system gets sold, scrapped or removed from service the following must happen:

1. They need to be completely rebuilt, refitted, repaired and fully be operational before they can be disposed of;

2. They need new paint done by private contractors. This paint must have been specifically bought for the system and can be used on no other;

3. Their replacements are at least five years away if all goes as planned. The new system must be more limited in capability and more expensive since there will always be fewer of them bought;

4. They must have considerable service life left. Huge quantities of spare parts that were unavailable to your forces will be discovered in depots and sold by weight;

5. Doctrine for their employment must have been recently updated at great cost. All training manuals must have just been re-written or updated at great expense in money, training and logistics. In multilingual countries, brand new translations of all reference material must have been completed and issued within the previous six-months;

6. Supporting infrastructure must be retained in service at great cost but without function until replaced by the new system (see item 3 above); and

7. Any specialized munitions usable only by the system being superseded must remain in national stocks for at least five-years after it becomes useless.

Once all of the above are satisfied, the system may be discarded.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

I wonder why India would bother? They are getting out of the Jump Jet business last I saw, they are moving over to the MiG-29K and a Navalized version of the multirole HAL Tejas.

I've seen some photos of them in storage and they look like the've been carefully wrapped up, almost as if to be 'moved on'.

[Anthony W.]

Originally Posted by gimpy117

and we spent 35 million?

wow...our pentagon is dumb. we're about to default and they do this?

Well, I imagine buying them would be much cheaper than having parts made or buying parts individually

Or we'll soon have Federal officials with harrier pads in their yards...

[Tinman764]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

My thought is that keeping these birds flying is very expensive. Thus the billions spent on them to keep them flying. In the long run the UK will save money on better fighters. Liken this to the the F-14 Tomcat that required numerous hours and cash to keep them flying. This airframe was retired as a result. Many of the F-14 had years left to fly as well. These were scrapped.

The big difference between the F14 and the RN Harrier being the USN had aircraft to fill the hole. We don't and that simple fact is sickening.

[Jimbuna]

A couple of photos...don't ask for the source:

[Osmium Steele]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

A couple of photos...don't ask for the source:

The source is Imageshack, of course.

[Growler]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

Dozens of British Harrier jump jets are to be sold to the United States Marine Corps for £34 million

If that's what you all are paying for "peanuts" - maybe being a peanut farmer isn't a bad idea after all.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Tinman764

The big difference between the F14 and the RN Harrier being the USN had aircraft to fill the hole. We don't and that simple fact is sickening.

I think that hole has been on the table for quite sometime now? I recall a thread or news that the UK was dumping military equipment in droves. Am I incorrect with this?

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

The source is Imageshack, of course.

[Osmium Steele]

I got a million of 'em.

I'll be here all week. Remember to tip your wait staff. Enjoy the veal!

[Jimbuna]

Steak...if you don't mind and curried at that