UK sells all its Harrier jets to ... the USA!

[klr]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... -jets.html

US military to buy Britain's scrapped fleet of Harrier jets



The US Navy and Marine Corps is in the final stages of negotiations to purchase all 74 of the planes, which have been permanently grounded since last year’s Strategic Defence Review.

The sale is likely to raise further questions over the wisdom of axing the Harrier as US defence chiefs suggested they were getting a bargain by buying the recently upgraded aircraft.

Rear Admiral Mark Heinrich, chief of the US navy's supply corps, said buying the Harriers made sense because many of the jets had recently undergone a refit, and the US already had pilots who could fly them.

"We're taking advantage of all the money the Brits have spent on them," he told the US newspaper Navy Times.

"It's like we're buying a car with maybe 15,000 miles on it. These are very good platforms. And we've already got trained pilots."

The Ministry of Defence last night confirmed that it was negotiating the sale but declined to disclose how much the Americans are offering.

The US navy, which already has a fleet of Harriers, hopes that the deal will allow it to continue operating the aircraft into the middle of the next decade and provide extra planes to replace its ageing two-seat F-18D Hornet strike fighters.

Rear-Adml Heinrich added that the US was prepared to pay $50m (£32m) for spare parts alone, while experts said converting the British jets to US specification is a relatively inexpensive process.

The Harrier’s retirement, which came at the same time as the Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier Ark Royal was axed, was heavily criticised by several senior military figures, while dozens of pilots were left without planes to fly.

The recent campaign in Libya renewed concerns that without the fleet of Harriers, Britain’s military capability has been severely hampered.

Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who was among those who criticised the defence review, said: "The issue is not that the US marines are buying the Harriers: it's that the US still thinks that the Harriers are viable aircraft. They still think there is a need for them."

The British Harriers have been kept in storage at RAF Cottesmore, in Rutland, where they have been maintained in an airworthy condition in readiness for sale.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We are currently negotiating the sale of Harrier assets to the US Government. It would therefore be inappropriate to comment on the future of the Harrier fleet at this time.”

[Feck]

I hope they work as well as the fucking Chinooks they sold us ............. Error 155 ?

[klr]

I hope they work as well as the fucking Chinooks they sold us ............. Error 155 ?

That one gets put down to MoD incompetence IMHO.

[Animavore]

How much are they, I'll take one for €100.

[Feck]

I hope they work as well as the fucking Chinooks they sold us ............. Error 155 ?

That one gets put down to MoD incompetence IMHO.

I thought they said it was pilot error

[klr]

I hope they work as well as the fucking Chinooks they sold us ............. Error 155 ?

That one gets put down to MoD incompetence IMHO.

I thought they said it was pilot error

SOP (Standard Operating Procedure): Blame the low-level operators, never the bureaucrats and big-wigs.

[klr]

How much are they, I'll take one for €100.

If you go to the likes of Albania, it's possible you might be able to pick up an old MiG fighter jet for that amount - the boys in Top Gear would know where they're stored.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Well at least we didn't sell them to the Argies. I wouldn't have put that past the useless fuckers that run this country.

[klr]

Well at least we didn't sell them to the Argies. I wouldn't have put that past the useless fuckers that run this country.

You have a point.

After all, Atlee's Labour government sold brand-new jet engines to the Soviet in the late 1940's, which later turned up (naturally) in the MiG 15, as in the Korean War.

[Faithfree]

At least they're getting good reliable aircraft ...

[Animavore]

How much are they, I'll take one for €100.

If you go to the likes of Albania, it's possible you might be able to pick up an old MiG fighter jet for that amount - the boys in Top Gear would know where they're stored.

Do you reckon they'll through me a couple of lazer guided missiles if I give 'em a bottle of whiskey also?

[klr]

How much are they, I'll take one for €100.

If you go to the likes of Albania, it's possible you might be able to pick up an old MiG fighter jet for that amount - the boys in Top Gear would know where they're stored.

Do you reckon they'll through me a couple of lazer guided missiles if I give 'em a bottle of whiskey also?

Anything for hard currency and hard liquor ...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

First Harrier I ever saw was at a demonstration flight for the Italian Air Force at Sigonella, Sicily. There was a flight of four. They pretended to land and then crabbed over to the reviewing platform, still several feet off the ground. Just as they got close the lead plane suddenly flipped and landed on its back. The Italians were impressed as they had no aircraft that could do that reliably.

[Horwood Beer-Master]

Well at least we didn't sell them to the Argies. I wouldn't have put that past the useless fuckers that run this country.

You have a point.

After all, Atlee's Labour government sold brand-new jet engines to the Soviet in the late 1940's, which later turned up (naturally) in the MiG 15, as in the Korean War.

According to my Dad (who was working at the MoD at the time), the Argies were placing orders for military hardware from us right up to the day it was announced that their "scrap metal merchants" had raised the Argentine flag on South Georgia.

[Feck]

How much are they, I'll take one for €100.

If you go to the likes of Albania, it's possible you might be able to pick up an old MiG fighter jet for that amount - the boys in Top Gear would know where they're stored.

Berat .