Reply #3: Well we sold the UAE 80 F-16 Fighters in 2000

[Savannah Progressive]

So what makes us think that Bush Co wouldn't push through a sale of the F-22A to them?

http://www.clw.org/archive/cat/oped3-29-00.html

Baltimore Sun, Op-Ed.
March 29, 2000

While most analysts and pundits are elated with the money and jobs the UAE's purchase of 80 F-16 Falcon fighter jets will create, few have delved into the potential security pitfalls of this massive $8 billion deal. The technology included in this deal is more advanced than anything the U.S. currently has in its arsenal. Technology of this capability will have long-lasting effects on the security relationships in the Middle East, not all of which will be positive.

The UAE is paying a large portion of the research and development costs for the custom ordered radar and integrated avionics systems on these F-16s. Those systems, when finally built by Northrup-Grumman, will supercede anything U.S. military planes will have at that point. Also first rate is Northrup's new electronic warfare system, which the U.S. Air Force does not have, nor does it intend to incorporate into its planes in the future.

Additionally, the UAE's F-16s will have longer range and greater payload than any other F-16s in existence. Some of the missiles the Falcons will be armed with have never before been introduced into the Middle East, breaking official U.S. policy.