The Federalist: Is Obama losing American defense industry jobs too?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Is Obama losing American defense industry jobs too?

A Swedish Air Force JAS-39 Gripen fighter aircraft arrives at the Graf Ignatievo Air Base in Bulgaria in this file photo. Turkey is considering to design, develop and produce a new fighter plane with Sweden’s Saab.

Long time ally Turkey is now looking to buy their military equipment from nations like Sweden and South Korea

Is the Socialist administration of Comrade Obama throwing American defense industry jobs under the bus?

Turkey, our long time American ally and friend, is looking to leave America behind and make new defense industry friends with South Korea and Sweden. The United States would not only lose important good paying jobs to other nations, but would lose influence with an important NATO ally in a key region of the world.

The Obama Administration appears to not understand the serious economic and diplomatic issues involved with Turkey.

The Islamist leaning government of
Turkey is looking to move away from
the United States.

Besides an ongoing plan to develop a fighter jet program with the US or Europe, Turkey is seeking to broaden its fleet with a second option. South Korea’s KAI and Sweden’s Saab are the two possible partners, according to a Turkish procurement official. Turkey is supposed to take part in the design of the possible project.

Turkey recently had held separate talks with aeronautical officials from South Korea and Sweden for possible cooperation in the design, development and production of a new fighter aircraft in the next decade, a senior procurement official said at the weekend, says the Hürriyet Daily News.

“The companies are South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Industries [KAI] and Sweden’s Saab,” the official said.

KAI is the manufacturer of several military and civilian aircraft and satellites and is planning to produce the fighter aircraft KF-X. Saab is the maker of the multi-role fighter JAS 39 Gripen.

Turkey, whose present fighter fleet is made up of U.S.-made aircraft, also plans to buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II planes, a next-generation, multinational program also led by the United States.

But Turkish officials privately say they want another future jet fighter to be developed with a country or countries other than the United States, in an effort to reduce the country’s dependence on Washington.

Most of Turkey’s present fleet of F-16 fighters, being modernized by U.S. firm Lockheed Martin, and the planned future F-35s are open to U.S. influence. Only its older F-4 aircraft, modernized by Israel, and its oldest F-16s, being modernized by Turkey itself, technologically are free from this influence, the officials said. But these older aircraft are expected to be decommissioned around 2020.

“Turkey wants part of its fighter aircraft fleet to remain outside the technological and other influence of the United States. It believes this scheme would better fit its national interests,” said one Turkish defense analyst.

The country last year held an initial round of talks with South Korea’s KAI on the matter. But the South Koreans then offered only a 20 percent share of the project to Turkey, with another 20 percent going to Indonesia, opting for 60 percent of the program for themselves. Turkey wants an equal share in the development of a new plane and was quick to reject the offer.

The Turkish Air Force. Is Obama dropping the ball and letting American defense
industry jobs slip away to other nations?

“Now the South Koreans are coming much closer to the idea of equal ownership, and this is positive,” said the Turkish procurement official. “But there are still many more things to be discussed with them.”

In the meantime, Turkey continues to be interested in rival programs, and the recent talks with Saab officials reflect this situation, the procurement official said. “Sweden also is a potential partner for us.”

In addition to KAI and Saab, a consortium of European companies, also continues efforts to include Turkey in its program for the Eurofighter Typhoon project. This consortium is Eurofighter, whose members include Italian, German, British and Spanish firms.

Italy’s deputy defense minister said in May that the pan-European Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft was the only viable alternative to U.S. planes in this category, urging Turkey to join the ambitious European-led defense program.

National borders are not written in stone.
The map above was distributed "accidentally" to students by the Turkish Department of Education. The map shows an enhanced Greater Turkey absorbing the nation of Cypress, along with parts of Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria and Greece. (for more)

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