|
US nod to Israel for AWACS sale to India
The United States on Monday confirmed it had given the okay for Israel to sell Phalcon early-warning aircraft worth one billion dollars to India, nearly three months after the approval was reported in the Israeli press. "The United States has informed the governments of Israel and India that we have no objection to the Israeli transfer of the Phalcon airborne early-warning system to India," Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said. He said Washington had taken the step, reported May 22 by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, because the improving security situation between India and Pakistan had made the sale less likely to destabilize the region. The Phalcon is an Israeli-developed long-range radar warning and control system carried in a Russian Ilyushin-76 cargo plane. Israel coordinates its military sales with Washington because the two nationsâ defense industries are closely linked and often share technological advances. A similar deal with China three years ago was dropped after a US veto, sparking a diplomatic crisis between Israel and China. The US confirmation that it had okayed the sale came less than a week after a team of senior Indian civilian and military officials traveled to Washington for defense talks. This will set some Pak turbans spinning. Posted by: Steve 2003-08-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=17561 |