New Zealand to sell A-4's

On 5 Sep, 02:34, tankfixer wrote:
In article defe91cd-de22-4484-b64d-e62f63b1b548@
1g2000pre.googlegroups.com, says...





On 4 Sep, 04:45, tankfixer wrote:
In article f2a19207-daa8-495c-a9b0-67315f857b26
@d77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com, says...

On Sep 3, 12:16*pm, Tiger wrote:
http://3news.co.nz/Skyhawkssalegetsa...9/articleID/66...

Skyhawks sale gets a step closer
Wed, 13 Aug 2008 5:16p.m.

The Air Force's white elephants, the A4 Skyhawks, are one step closer to
finally being sold, seven years after they were grounded.

Defence Minister Phil Goff has confirmed to 3 News the US government has
given him an assurance to fast track a possible sale, which could come
in the next two months.

Since being grounded in 2001 the A4 Skyhawks have proved to be more a
nightmare for the Air Force than the pride they once were, costing
$300,000 a month to maintain.

The Government has tried to sell them for nine years, only to be blocked
every time by the US State Department. *But Defence Minister Phil Goff
says they are now wanting to help.

?I have now had an assurance from the Department of Defence and the
Department of State that once the tender has been issued, to one of the
two bidders for our planes, they will fast track the process,? says Goff.

Goff has confirmed to 3 News the sale price is US$110 million dollars
for the 17 Skyhawk jets and a fleet of training Aermacchis.

A contract has yet to be awarded by the US, but Goff is confident that
should be in the next two months, and a cheque written finally by the
end of the year.

?I'll only breathe a sigh of relief when I receive the cheque but so far
the assurance given to me by the American government is very welcome,?
says Goff.

The assurance came from a high level US official who visited Wellington
last week, and it comes less than a month after the visit of Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice.

The Skyhawks have been sitting outside at the Woodbourne Airbase for
almost a year, covered by a hundred thousand dollar latex coating that
ACT MP Heather Roy says is failing.

?Water is seeping in between the layers of the latex. *It's pooling the
so called maintenance is somebody going around after rain with a pin or
sharp object piercing the latex covering so that the water drains out
and that?s it,? Roy says.
Safe Air, the company that maintains the Skyhawks, would not comment
today. *The Air Force though says the weather damage was expected but
that the important parts of the aircraft are well kept. *The Government
says their current condition should not hinder any possible future sale.

So who's going to buy them? Not to knock the A-4, just curious who
would be on the "approved list" and be in the market for planes?

I'm guessing the Aussies aren't buying.... Colombia? Argentina? Chile?

Brazil ?
She bought some of Israel's to fly off her CVL

- Show quoted text -

Not Israel. Brazil bought the Skyhawks from Kuwait.

My bad.
Somehow I'd heard Israel was involved.
Could they have gone through the IAI shops before delivery ?

--
Meddle ye not in the Affairs of Dragons, for Thou art Crunchy and taste
Goode with Ketchup.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

http://www.skyhawk.org/2e/brazil/brazil-vf1.htm

'The single-seat Kuwait A-4KUs, re-designated AF1, and the two-seat
trainers TA-4KU re-designated AF1A were shipped by sea from Kuwait
arriving in Brazil in early September 1998. The Skyhawks were placed
in overhaul maintenance where they were significantly upgraded.'

http://www.geocities.com/usarmyaviationdigest/oa4z.htm

'Both SAFE and ATSI joined forces to bid for the refurbishment and
upgrading of the ex-Kuwaiti A-4KUs purchased by the Brazilian Navy.
This bid was lost to another company that underbid them by $3 million,
and which subsequently failed to do the job properly when it tried to
work with the lower sum. At this point ATSI had moved on to more
lucrative projects.'

I don't know who eventually got the contract.

TJ

Tiger wrote:
ErrolC wrote:
On Sep 4, 6:10 am, "David E. Powell" wrote:



Likely a private company that provides training. I'll believe it has
happened when the money is in the bank - the sale has been 'close'
before, and vague comments from politicians about to face an election
are unconvincing.

--
Errol Cavit
"[I warn against] the almost...universal error of historians to
suppose it politically, as it physically true, that every effect has a
proportionate cause."
Dr Samuel Johnston, 1771


Past problems seem to be due to the US puting trade restrictions on
resales of US arms. It's little things like that that drive arms buyers
to Europe & Russia.

No surprise there... A U.S. Citizen most likely wouldn't be able to
buy them even if they did have the money.