Article

2004-12-14 Arabia

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Posted by Steve 2004-12-14 10:01:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Insh'allah's a bitch on the maintenance of high-tech equipment - say anything more complex than a crowbar.

Posted by .com 2004-12-14 11:06:54 AM|| 2004-12-14 11:06:54 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Don't forget the hammer, .com. So very useful for pounding sand, so I imagine they've become quite adept with it ;-)

Posted by trailing wife 2004-12-14 11:28:05 AM|| 2004-12-14 11:28:05 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 tw - Lol! Excellent, heh.

Posted by .com 2004-12-14 11:32:03 AM|| 2004-12-14 11:32:03 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Only foreign market for the F-14 was Iran, not Israel. In air wars, training is everything, and if you know you don't have a chance in Hell of winning the battle in the air, might as well lose it on the ground by downing the aircraft when ordered to launch.

Posted by longtime lurker 2004-12-14 11:34:22 AM|| 2004-12-14 11:34:22 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 This article is relevant to one posted last week on Saudization although that one focused on the civilian sector.

There was a gap of 9 years between my jobs in Saudi. Willahi, nothing had changed in the interim. By this, I mean the willingness of the Saudi govt (SAG) to push for meaningful training programs that actually cut deadwood rather than recycle it ad nauseum. The only place I know of in the Kingdom that creates competent people is the King Fahad U of petroleum and minerals. But that was basically a creation of Aramco.

I worked in the aviation field there and heard a lot of anecdotal talk about why Saudis can't maintain planes (from westerners) and anecdotal talk about why westerners don't want to train competent Saudi personnel (from Saudis) Obviously, the real answer is in the middle for all training done in-Kingdom, but with more than a whiff of blame on the Saudi side.

Posted by chicago mike 2004-12-14 1:09:28 PM|| 2004-12-14 1:09:28 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 That F-15S modified Strike Eagle, the S stands for slaved.

Posted by Shipman 2004-12-14 4:55:00 PM|| 2004-12-14 4:55:00 PM|| Front Page Top

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