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Post by phelan on May 31, 2016 16:07:39 GMT
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Post by samlogic on May 31, 2016 17:14:11 GMT
"an immediate request for two aircraft". Why does this sound like the same old "We are more important than you, so we should get our gear before you" Israeli mentality? Sad thing is the US will probably give Israel the first two tankers off the line.
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Post by phelan on May 31, 2016 17:20:04 GMT
That's what my first thought was too.
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Post by v1boomuhoh on Jun 1, 2016 1:17:35 GMT
I wonder if they'd be interested in some shiny new (to them) KC-135s that won't be needed once the KC-46s come online! The US will even offer a complementary oil change and FCF!
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Post by phelan on Jun 1, 2016 15:32:00 GMT
Hell, we've gotten rid of some already, when they were still desperately needed. They offered R models to them but IIRC they rejected them.
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Post by v1boomuhoh on Jun 2, 2016 3:34:44 GMT
Apparently they were offered E models 3 years ago and turned them down. www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-seeks-r-model-kc-135s-from-usa-390082/Hell, why don't they just make their own? IIRC, they have one of the biggest 767 cargo conversion outfits in Israel, and I imagine the IAI could throw something workable together pretty quick, without most of the bells and whistles, if they needed to. Used 767 airframes in flyable condition can be found pretty cheap if they snipe some from the Amazon contractors. And, if they build their own, they won't have the usual hassle of the US being mad when they inevitably sell their tech to another country. |
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Post by phelan on Jun 2, 2016 9:12:47 GMT
It's kind of funny that they don't. They've converted some for other countries and have others they're going to convert.
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Post by samlogic on Jun 2, 2016 16:25:41 GMT
Apparently they were offered E models 3 years ago and turned them down. www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-seeks-r-model-kc-135s-from-usa-390082/Hell, why don't they just make their own? IIRC, they have one of the biggest 767 cargo conversion outfits in Israel, and I imagine the IAI could throw something workable together pretty quick, without most of the bells and whistles, if they needed to. Used 767 airframes in flyable condition can be found pretty cheap if they snipe some from the Amazon contractors. And, if they build their own, they won't have the usual hassle of the US being mad when they inevitably sell their tech to another country. I wonder if it's just a matter of available resources, not necessarily the airframe, for future developments in country and the need in their eyes to have them "immediately". Throwing a tanker together, with the specs that the Israelis want, in a hurry might be too difficult for them as Boeing can attest to with the Pegasus. Plus China might not be willing to pay as much for indigenously developed tanker tech. as they are for US gear. |
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