F-16s to Iran or Cuba

[Joseph]

In 1982, the US sold Venezuela some F-16 under contract. The US would upgrade them from time to time.

Mr Chavez is now talking about selling the F-16 to Iran, Cuba, and or China and buying Russian SU 27/35.

The US said they cannot sell per 1982 contract without US permission.

What action should the US take, if Chavez sells the planes without our permission?

[SlowwHand]

Strike the planes.

[Dinner]

He's free to sell his planes to anyone he wants. I'm sure he knows he's selling the best air superiority fighter in the world to buy an intercepter/fighter which is measurably inferior in just about every way (the sole exception being the it's cheaper) but he's doing it for a bit of political grandstanding. Since that's all Chavez does it is understandable.

In the long run the F-15 is now being phased out of production for the F-22 (which is far and away the best fighter in the world) and Venezuela hasn't bought a fighter from us since the 1980's so the effects are tiny. The very fact that Iran and Cuba want the F-15s shows how much better they are then the fighters either of those countries currently own.

[chequita guevara]

The SU-27/35 is an excellent plane. F-16s are on the order of 30 years, design wise. That's why the U.S. is phasing them out. I don't know why either Cuba or Iran would want them, since they won't be able to maintain them (which is why Venezuela is probably getting rid of them, as the U.S. just slapped an arms embargo on Venezuela).

[MRT144]

why did iraq bury their planes? its the same thing.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Strike the planes.

(That's Strike 2 )

[Seeker]

lol like a couple a of fighters are going to make a difference against the 300-400 strong air armada type attacks we've seen in yugoslavia and iraq.

Does anyone remember from when clinton bombed yugoslavia, and the yugoslavs briefly sent up their less-than-a-dozen fighters air force against 300 NATO planes as a gesture, turned on their screens, looked, shat themselves, and then ran away?

[Jon Miller]

you know, thety might survive..

with all those missiles firing, some might hit eachother...

JM

[Pekka]

If there's something more hypocritical than arms sales and how it's done, then our brains might burst to find out what THAT is.

[Victor Galis]

The propper procedure for the US is to yawn and ignore them. A handful of fighters isn't going to make any difference, and quite frankly complaining about is just going to make this a symbolic victory for them.

[Q Classic]

I say we invade Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela. We have to fight the F-16s over there so we don't have to fight them here.

[Victor Galis]

Now that's some good neocon thinking! Of course we need to claim it's in the name of democracy.

[rah]

Without replacement parts, they won't be flying long.

[Kontiki]

None. Like Che said, they're not going to be able to maintain or upgrade them, and it's not like they have the pilots and massive support network to use them to the best of their abilities anyway.

The relative quality of a current front line US fighter and a current front line Russian fighter is overrated when it comes to combat anyway. The training and quality of your pilots, radar, intelligence, AWACS, ground crew, availability of spare parts, ability to continually upgrade etc. are all more important. I mean seriously, suppose Iraq had F-15s and F-16 during the 1991 Gulf War and the US had Russian planes, but everything else was the same. I strongly doubt the US would have lost even one more plane, or had any more difficult a time achieving air dominance.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Oerdin
He's free to sell his planes to anyone he wants.

Politically, yes...contractually, no.