Kate Brown
New America
Foundation
Media Relations Manager
202-986-3058 (direct)
414-737-0462 (mobile)
January
8, 2009
War in Gaza,
Weapons from the USA
Backgrounder
by
Frida Berrigan and William D. Hartung
Arms and Security Initiative, New America
Foundation
Frida Berrigan, berrigan@newamerica.net,
212-431-5808 ext 200
William D. Hartung, Hartung@newamerica.net,
212-431-5808 ext. 201
January 7th, 2009 – Israel’s intervention in the Gaza Strip
has been fueled largely by U.S.-supplied weapons paid for with U.S. tax
dollars:
·
During the Bush administration (from FY2002 through
FY2009) Israel has received
over $21 billion in U.S.
security assistance, including $19 billion in direct military aid under the
Pentagon’s Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
·
The bulk of Israel’s
current arsenal is composed of equipment supplied under U.S. assistance
programs. For example, Israel has 226 U.S.-supplied F-16 fighter and attack
jets, over 700 M-60 tanks, 6,000 armored personnel carriers, and scores of
transport planes, attack helicopters, utility and training aircraft, bombs, and
tactical missiles of all kinds.
·
During 2008 alone, the United States made over $22
billion in arms sales offers to Israel, including a proposed deal for as many
as 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters worth up to $15.2 billion; nine C-130J-30
aircraft worth up to $1.9 billion; 4 Littoral combat ships and related
equipment worth as much as $1.9 billion; and up to $1.3 billion worth of
gasoline and jet aviation fuel.
For
additional background, see the following:
·
“Selected U.S. Weapons
Systems Proposed to Israel,
2008,” ASI Factsheet, January 7, 2009 (see
text below).
·
Israel
Profile, “U.S. Weapons
at War 2008,” New America
Foundation, December 2008. http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/u_s_arms_recipients_2006_07_near_east
(scroll down on webpage for “Israel
Profile”)
·
“U.S.
Military Assistance and Arms Transfers to Israel:
U.S.
Aid, Companies Fuel Israeli Military,” Frida Berrigan and William D.
Hartung, World Policy Institute Issue Brief, July 20, 2006. http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/israel.lebanon.FINAL2.pdf
Selected U.S.
Weapons Systems Proposed to Israel,
2008
ASI Factsheet, January 7, 2009
|
Date of Offer*
|
System
|
Value**
|
Notes
|
|
September 29, 2008
|
Twenty-five F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Conventional Take-Off and Landing (CTOL) aircraft with an option to purchase
at a later date an additional 50 F-35 CTOL or Short Take-Off and Vertical
Landing (STOVL) aircraft, as well as associated equipment and services.
|
As high as $15.2 billion.
|
Prime Contractors:
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth, Texas;
Pratt &
Whitney Military Engines, East
Hartford, Connecticut;
and
General Electric/Fighter Engine Team, Cincinnati, Ohio
|
|
September 9, 2008
|
Three PATRIOT System Configuration 3
Modification kits to upgrade 3 PATRIOT fire units to Radar Enhancement Phase
3 (REP-3) and Classification, Discrimination and Identification Phase 3
(CDI-3).
|
As high as $164 million.
|
Prime contractor:
Raytheon Corporation, Andover, MA.
|
|
September 9, 2008
|
One thousand GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs
as well as associated equipment and services.
|
As high as $77 million.
|
Principal contractor:
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems,
Boeing Corporation, St. Louis,
MO.
|
|
September 9, 2008
|
Twenty-eight thousand M72A7 66mm Light
Anti-Armor Weapons (LAAWs), 60,000 M72AS 21mm Sub-Caliber Training Rockets,
spare and repair parts and other related elements of logistics support.
|
The estimated cost is $89 million.
|
Principal contractor; Talley Defense of Mesa, Arizona.
|
|
July 30, 2008
|
Nine C-130J-30 Aircraft as well as
associated equipment and services.
|
As high as $1.9 billion.
|
Principal contractor:
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Fort Worth, Texas.
|
|
July 15, 2008
|
Up to 4 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS-I
variant): Hull, and all mechanical and electrical functions, as well as
weapons systems such as 2 MK-41 Vertical Launch Systems, 8 cells for each
system; 1 Close-In-Weapon System, etc.
|
As high as $1.9 billion.
|
Principal contractors:
Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and
Sensors, Moorestown, NJ;
Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and
Sensors, Eagan, MN;
General Dynamics, Armament Systems, Burlington, VT;
Raytheon Company, Equipment Division, Andover, MA;
and
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Waltham, MA
|
|
July 15, 2008
|
28,000,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline,
186,000,000 gallons of JP-8 aviation jet fuel, and 54,000,000 gallons of
diesel fuel.
|
The estimated cost is $1.3 billion.
|
The vendors are unknown at this time due
to the competitive bid process for the supply source(s).
|
|
June 9, 2008
|
Twenty-five T-6A Texan aircraft, as well
as associated equipment and services.
|
As high as $190 million.
|
Principal contractors:
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation, Wichita, Kansas;
Pratt & Whitney Corporation, Quebec, Canada
and Bridgeport, West Virginia;
Martin Baker, Middlesex, United Kingdom;
Hartzel Propeller, Pique, Ohio
Canadian Marconi, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma;
and
L-3 Vertex, Madison, Mississippi
|
Source: Defense Security Cooperation
Agency New Releases, http://www.dsca.mil
*Date of offer: The
date the DSCA notifies Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale. Congress has two weeks to object to the
sale.
** This is an
estimated price if all the items in the Notification are approved and the
country is able to purchase them all.
|
|
