Only Crashed Once
India is buying some used warplanes from Qatar. What's the catch? They're French.
Now, don't get me wrong here. To the best of my understanding, Mirage warplanes are very good equipment; the "never been fired, only [crashed] once" thing is just a joke. Why would the French crash something that hadn't even come close to seeing combat?
What I'd be especially concerned about, though, is buying second-hand aircraft from Qatar. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Qatar, at least on paper; I know very little about that country, save for the fact that they invited the Americans to establish a strong military presence there, and we enjoy good relations with the Qataris.
The thing I'm worried about is that I've heard real horror stories about the way that the military personnel of the Gulf states operate and maintain their equipment. It's been said that a major factor in the overwhelming defeat of Iraqi tanks by American tanks in 1991 wasn't so much the superiority of the M1-A1 Abrams MBT, but the poor training, doctrine, and particularly maintenance of the Iraqis and their tanks. Without going into specifics, I've spoken with veterans of Gulf War I who said that the Arab personnel they worked with didn't have the first clue what they were doing.
If I were the Indian defense minister, I'd pass on the used Qatari aircraft and wait for the deal with the Americans to pan out. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that we'd give them outstanding gear; just ask everyone else who flies either the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Falcon, or even the F-4 Phantom.
India's defence ministry has been authorised by the cabinet to buy 12 used French-built Mirage 2000 jet fighters from Qatar.
It is part of a massive defence purchase package worth more than $700m.
The move comes days after the US announced it was going ahead with sales of its F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, despite opposition from India.
Washington has also offered advanced combat planes to India, an offer that Delhi is considering.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said his ministry was yet to negotiate the price of the Mirage jets.
He said the cabinet had also authorised a number of other military purchases.
Now, don't get me wrong here. To the best of my understanding, Mirage warplanes are very good equipment; the "never been fired, only [crashed] once" thing is just a joke. Why would the French crash something that hadn't even come close to seeing combat?
What I'd be especially concerned about, though, is buying second-hand aircraft from Qatar. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Qatar, at least on paper; I know very little about that country, save for the fact that they invited the Americans to establish a strong military presence there, and we enjoy good relations with the Qataris.
The thing I'm worried about is that I've heard real horror stories about the way that the military personnel of the Gulf states operate and maintain their equipment. It's been said that a major factor in the overwhelming defeat of Iraqi tanks by American tanks in 1991 wasn't so much the superiority of the M1-A1 Abrams MBT, but the poor training, doctrine, and particularly maintenance of the Iraqis and their tanks. Without going into specifics, I've spoken with veterans of Gulf War I who said that the Arab personnel they worked with didn't have the first clue what they were doing.
If I were the Indian defense minister, I'd pass on the used Qatari aircraft and wait for the deal with the Americans to pan out. There's no doubt in anyone's mind that we'd give them outstanding gear; just ask everyone else who flies either the F-15 Eagle, the F-16 Falcon, or even the F-4 Phantom.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home