Posted by Mark Thompson Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 10:59 am
3 Comments • Related Topics: National Security , arms sales, F-15, helicopters, saudi arabia
The Pentagon has just sent Congress Saudi Arabia's latest shopping list, topped with 84 F-15 jet fighters and 190 helicopters, as predicted here last month. It's always funny how some quantities are round -- 200,000 20mm cartridges, 300 AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, 1,000 2,000-pound GBU-31B V3 Joint Direct Attack Munitions -- and some are not: 193 F-110-GE-129 Improved Performance Engines, 338 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems, 462 AN/AVS-9 Night Vision Goggles. Defense folks suggest the need for accountability of bullets and bombs -- and how they are packed on pallets -- is to blame for so many zeroes in the kinetic column.