Thailand considering $1.3bil F-16 deal with the U.S

Thailand considering one-billion-dollar F-16 deal with US


"The Thai airforce has contacted with F-16 producer Lockheed Martin Corp. and the two sides are studying detail conditions of the deal, the Thai airforce commander Air Chief Marshal Kongsak Wantana told Xinhua Saturday."

"The deal with a total value of 45 billion baht (1.13 billion dollars) will be conducted in the form of barter trade, with the Thai side paying in agriculture products."

"The total budget will also cover the purchase of suitable missiles and maintenance fee, an anonymous airforce source told Xinhua."

"Thailand has not yet decided the number of fighters to buy and the form of agriculture products to pay, said Kongsak."

news.xinhuanet.com...


America - "I will sell you some brand new F-16s."
Thailand - "Ok, but can I pay with food?"



[edit on 11-6-2005 by NWguy83]

Hmm....paying with food...thats something new

Those F-16s will probably be on the same level as the Malaysian and Indonesian Su-27/30s also in the region... good enough to maintain a relatively high standard airforce. BTW, what block levels are they?

[edit on 11/6/05 by W4rl0rD]

Originally posted by W4rl0rDBTW, what block levels are they?

C/D

F16's are too old imho. Its better if they buy a more modern design instead.

F16's are too old imho. Its better if they buy a more modern design instead.

I hope there is at least one other person out there who initially thouhgt 'can't they find soemthing else to spend their money on?'

I don't know, but I'll probably get a tummyache if I ate $1.3 bil worth of bananas

In the Uk we cannot really afford to give the US any more, we blew it on trident and it's replacement so we in the MOD think that this is a fair offer,

100 B2's
50 B1's
200 FA-18 (Super Honets)

we have a big bag of rice we think it's almost 10kilos we had a curry last night.

RAB :-)

This is nothing new some people trade in food, oil rights etc etc so it may be a good deal. Better then the one the UK offered you buy stuff off UK arms firms and you can py them using our debit relif vouchers :-)

Thailand always payed for weapons with food.

They paid 66000 tons of Long Gan (an Oriental fruit) for 120 Chinese APCs.

They paid Russia with coconuts for some aircraft weapons I think or was it airplanes.

They are paying China a crap load of fruit for its 2 OPVs.......Theres more but I'm not gonna post them, you get the point.

Its not like They U.S. is short on food so WTF is going on here? Unless by agriculture products they mean oil then I can understand the deal.

Not very long ago, the US paid pakistan with Wheat !

After suspending the second block 15 F-16 deal with pakistan because pakistan secretly had lent china three of its F-16's, the US had to payback the money that pakistan had paid it in advance.

But the clinton administration secided to pay back the ~200 million $ as wheat after it was agreed to by both sides.

200 million dollars worth of wheat? Wow, thats a lot of rice those Pakistanis are going to eat....

It was to be delivered over a period of several years.

Here are the accurate details of the deal.

The recovery of cash almost to tune of $600 paid to the USA on account of purchase of F-16 planes was full of controversy.

Americans had not paid any mark up on the amount rather deducted rent for these planes kept in stores of the manufacturers.

Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif tried to get the money back and at times it had become a political point scoring for both of them.

In December 1998 Nawaz Sharif aided by his Minister Ishaq Dar had successful negotiations with the then US President Bill Clinton to get the money back in shape of cash and import of soyabean and wheat.

According to official documents, Nawaz Sharif went to Washington and met Bill Clinton on December 2, 1998. Minister Ishaq Dar and the then Pakistan ambassador to the US, Riaz Khokhar, were also present in these negotiations.

Nawaz raised the issue of payment of outstanding amount on account of non-supply of F-16s. President Clinton admitted that it was not fair to block both the money and planes. He used his discretionary powers to return $324 million out of the remaining cash. However, Ishaq Dar after long negotiations convinced ClintonÕs financial team that the US should also make compensation to Islamabad in the shape of soyabean and wheat to the tune of $140 million.

Subsequently two countries signed an agreement for the purchase of wheat and soybean as a compensation to the loss Pakistan suffered on account of F-16s deal.

link