U.S. near $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE

U.S. near $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE Fri, Apr 19 15:56 PM EDT By David Alexander WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is finalizing a complex $10 billion arms deal that would strengthen two key Arab allies while maintaining Israel's military edge, defense officials said on Friday ahead of a trip to the Middle East by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. The deal, more than a year in the making through a series of coordinated bilateral negotiations, would result in the sale of V-22 Osprey aircraft, advanced refueling tankers and anti-air defense missiles to Israel and 25 F-16 Desert Falcon jets worth nearly $5 billion to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE and Saudi Arabia also would be allowed to purchase weapons with "stand-off" capabilities - those that can be used to engage the enemy with precision at a greater distance, defense officials said. The deal marks the first time the United States has offered to sell tilt-rotor Ospreys to another country, and the "stand-off" weapons would give Saudi Arabia and the UAE a more advanced capability than they have had in the past, said the defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This is one of the most complex and carefully orchestrated arms sale packages in American history," one of the officials said. "That's not just because of the kinds of equipment that we're providing to Israel and Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. It's also a reflection of intensive defense shuttle diplomacy." The announcement comes amid mounting concerns over Iran's nuclear program, with little progress reported at talks this month between Iran and world powers. U.S. officials concede that crippling sanctions have so far failed to force concessions from Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful. Israel has renewed warnings it reserves the right to resort to military action to stop what it says is Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. ISRAEL'S MILITARY EDGE U.S. defense officials touted the arms deals as the culmination of President Barack Obama's effort to find a way to boost the military capabilities of key Arab allies in light of the threats in the region while still fulfilling the U.S. policy of maintaining Israel's military superiority. "This not only sustains but augments Israel's qualitative military edge in the region," one of the officials said. "This package is a significant advance for Israel. ... This is about giving all three partners in the region added capacity to address key threats that they may face down the road." The announcement of the deal came as Hagel was preparing for his first trip to Middle East since taking office in February. He planned to visit Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE and was expected to continue discussions about the arms sale at stops along the way. Defense officials said the Congress had not been formally notified of the arms sale as part of the approval process. That will come once the different countries finalize their purchase decisions and submit formal letters of request. While the arms negotiations with the different countries were carried out bilaterally, defense officials said they had been transparent with all sides about the effort to boost the military capacities of all sides to address regional threats. Sources familiar with the arms sales plans said Israel had asked to buy five or six V-22 Ospreys, built by Boeing Co and Textron Inc's Bell Helicopter unit, at an estimated price of about $70 million apiece. The UAE also is interested in purchasing the tilt-rotor aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like a plane, the sources said. But that sale is likely to be included in a separate deal. The United States sold Saudi Arabia 84 F-15 jets for $29 billion in 2010, planes that are now beginning to roll off the assembly line and undergo testing, officials said. (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) ============= Pentagon in PR fight over F-35 fighter jets’ cyber vulnerabilities Get short URL Published time: April 26, 2013 18:45 Edited time: April 26, 2013 19:22 The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (AFP Photo) Share on Tumblr Tags Military, USA, Planes, Security, Air Force, Hacking The United States Department of Defense is conducting damage control after the head of the Pentagon’s multi-billion dollar F-35 fighter jet program said he has doubts those planes could withstand a sophisticated cyberattack. The F-35 program manager, Air Force Lieutenant General Christopher Bodgan, told the US Senate Armed Service Committee on Wednesday that he was “not that confident” about the security measures that the plane’s manufacturers have allegedly implemented in the costly fleet of airships they’re supplying to the Pentagon. "I'm a little less confident about industry partners to be quite honest with you ... I would tell you I'm not that confident outside the department,” he told the panel. The fleet of F-35s is on schedule to be the most expensive weapons program in the history of the US, but has encountered numerous setbacks along the way. Speaking at a conference in February, Bodgan said that manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney were purposely attempting to get as much money possible out of the Pentagon — even if the cost for acquiring and operating the fleet stands to come to close to $1 trillion when all is said and done. “What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine,” Bogdan said in February at the Australian International Airshow. US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) asked Bodgan this week to weigh in further, to which the F-35 program manager said relations between the Pentagon and its contractors have been better as of late — even if his suspicions remain about the cybersecurity abilities of the aircraft. “Doing business with both companies has been difficult and is getting better. I was seeing behaviors in which I thought over the next 30 or 40 years were not sustainable for us or either one of those industry partners,” Bodgan said before addressing staff changes that could explain the new attitude. “First and foremost, there have been significant leadership changes at Lockheed Martin over the last few months, all the way up and down the F-35 chain. The deputy program manager, the program manager, the president of Lockheed Martin aero and the CEO have all changed out,” he said. Bodgan’s remarks about the alleged security flaws of the fleet of fighter jets come amid heightened calls for improved national cybersecurity but also at the same time that the computer networks used onboard a $37 billion fleet of Navy warships have been called into question. RT reported earlier this week that a Navy official told Reuters that the fleet’s lead ship, the USS Freedom, was found to be vulnerable to cyberattacks during recent penetration tests. The Pentagon quickly refuted the Reuters article, and the Pentagon’s director of weapons testing said authorities acted to remedy those vulnerabilities as soon as they were discovered. Now the Defense Department is once again answering questions after yet another weapons program has been critiqued for what could be a critical security flaw. Responding to Bodgan’s remarks this week, the Pentagon says that it’s "fully aware of evolving cyber threats and is taking specific action to counter them for all fielded systems, including F-35." "The F-35 is no more or less vulnerable to known cyber threats than legacy aircraft were during their initial development and early production," spokesman Joe DellaVedova tells Reuters. Both manufacturers involved in the building of the aircraft answered questions fielded by Reuters as well, and both downplayed Bodgan’s suspicions. "We take this mission very seriously," says Lockheed spokesman Michael Rein. "We have placed special emphasis on intelligence analysis, characterization and prediction - an intelligence driven response in order to ensure agile response to attack and enhanced resilience of our systems." Matthew Bates, a spokesperson for Pratt & Whitney, adds, "We do not discuss details of our cyber security initiatives, but we have a well-established strategy in place to protect our intellectual property and company private data, as well as our customer's information, against cyber threats.” ===================