fatman17
PDF THINK TANK: CONSULTANT
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 32,563
- Reaction score
- 98
- Country
- Location
Pakistan upheaval unlikely to derail Raytheon sale
By Jack Gillum
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.14.2007
advertisementPakistan's political upheaval is unlikely to alter plans for Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems' to make its biggest-ever international sale of a type of air-to-air missile to that South Asian country, experts say.
In January, Raytheon announced Pakistan would buy 700 of the company's missiles: 500 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air missiles, known as AMRAAM, as well as 200 AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles.
The $284 million sale, scheduled to be carried out in 2008, marked the largest single international AMRAAM purchase, the company said at the time. Formally, it is the U.S. government that buys the missiles from Raytheon and then sells them to Pakistan.
But on Nov. 3, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule, suspended the constitution and cracked down on dissidents. That raised the ire of some in the U.S. Congress who say arms sales to Pakistan should halt until Musharraf backs off emergency rule and holds free and fair elections.
Pakistani officials said Thursday Musharraf plans to end emergency rule on Saturday, The Associated Press reported. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Jan. 8.
Action against U.S. arms sales to Pakistan is unlikely, said Paul Nisbet, a Raytheon analyst with the Newport, R.I.-based JSA Research Inc.
"Politics very seldom has anything to do with changing the contract," Nisbet said.
Many defense purchases by foreign governments, such as Pakistan's, go through the federal Defense Security Cooperation Agency's Foreign Military Sales program.
That program, Nisbet said, is intended "to partly shield the company from the politics," as well as to help countries that don't have the "capability of monitoring these very complex contracts."
Weapons sales to foreign countries are one of the key elements of Waltham, Mass.-based Ray-theon Co.'s growth strategy, said Missile Systems spokesman John B. Patterson.
But Raytheon strongly objects to any depiction that the company itself sells weapons to unstable governments.
"The announced sale of missiles to Pakistan is a government-to-government engagement, made by the U.S. government after review and clearance by Congress," Raytheon Co. said in a statement prepared for the Arizona Daily Star. "We need to refer any questions about that process to the U.S. government."
International sales accounted for about $1.1 billion, or 21 percent, of Raytheon Co.'s sales in the third quarter of 2007, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings dated Oct. 25. That is up from $869 million, or 18 percent of sales, during the same period in 2006.
As Raytheon is preparing to provide missiles to Pakistan next year, the company has also positioned itself to help Pakistan's historical adversary, India.
Within weeks of announcing the January missile contract with Pakistan, the company said it would "have a major presence" at a trade show in Bangalore, India, and it "offers a variety of products and services to meet India's military and commercial needs."
Despite political unrest in Pakistan, the United States considers Musharraf an important ally in the war on terrorism, making it improbable that sales of weapons to the country will stop, analysts said this week.
Pakistan was under American sanctions before 9/11 and was ineligible to receive weapons under U.S. law, said Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst with the Center for Defense Information, a Washington, D.C., group that analyzes military spending and policy. Since then, Pakistan has received millions of dollars of U.S. military assistance.
Although the U.S. has previously criticized Pakistan on human-rights issues, analysts say its continuing approval of weapons sales to Pakistan is a matter of carrots and sticks.
The carrots in this case are arms sales, including missiles and F-16 fighter jets, said David N. Gibbs, an associate professor of history and political science at the UA.
The new missiles may arm F-16 fighter jets purchased from the U.S. by Pakistan.
Raytheon said in its announcement that the purchases would "provide the bulk of the air-to-air fire power" of the Pakistan air force.
For Pakistan, Stohl said, the combination of the missiles and fighter jets "is huge."
By Jack Gillum
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.14.2007
advertisementPakistan's political upheaval is unlikely to alter plans for Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems' to make its biggest-ever international sale of a type of air-to-air missile to that South Asian country, experts say.
In January, Raytheon announced Pakistan would buy 700 of the company's missiles: 500 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air missiles, known as AMRAAM, as well as 200 AIM-9M Sidewinder missiles.
The $284 million sale, scheduled to be carried out in 2008, marked the largest single international AMRAAM purchase, the company said at the time. Formally, it is the U.S. government that buys the missiles from Raytheon and then sells them to Pakistan.
But on Nov. 3, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule, suspended the constitution and cracked down on dissidents. That raised the ire of some in the U.S. Congress who say arms sales to Pakistan should halt until Musharraf backs off emergency rule and holds free and fair elections.
Pakistani officials said Thursday Musharraf plans to end emergency rule on Saturday, The Associated Press reported. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Jan. 8.
Action against U.S. arms sales to Pakistan is unlikely, said Paul Nisbet, a Raytheon analyst with the Newport, R.I.-based JSA Research Inc.
"Politics very seldom has anything to do with changing the contract," Nisbet said.
Many defense purchases by foreign governments, such as Pakistan's, go through the federal Defense Security Cooperation Agency's Foreign Military Sales program.
That program, Nisbet said, is intended "to partly shield the company from the politics," as well as to help countries that don't have the "capability of monitoring these very complex contracts."
Weapons sales to foreign countries are one of the key elements of Waltham, Mass.-based Ray-theon Co.'s growth strategy, said Missile Systems spokesman John B. Patterson.
But Raytheon strongly objects to any depiction that the company itself sells weapons to unstable governments.
"The announced sale of missiles to Pakistan is a government-to-government engagement, made by the U.S. government after review and clearance by Congress," Raytheon Co. said in a statement prepared for the Arizona Daily Star. "We need to refer any questions about that process to the U.S. government."
International sales accounted for about $1.1 billion, or 21 percent, of Raytheon Co.'s sales in the third quarter of 2007, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings dated Oct. 25. That is up from $869 million, or 18 percent of sales, during the same period in 2006.
As Raytheon is preparing to provide missiles to Pakistan next year, the company has also positioned itself to help Pakistan's historical adversary, India.
Within weeks of announcing the January missile contract with Pakistan, the company said it would "have a major presence" at a trade show in Bangalore, India, and it "offers a variety of products and services to meet India's military and commercial needs."
Despite political unrest in Pakistan, the United States considers Musharraf an important ally in the war on terrorism, making it improbable that sales of weapons to the country will stop, analysts said this week.
Pakistan was under American sanctions before 9/11 and was ineligible to receive weapons under U.S. law, said Rachel Stohl, a senior analyst with the Center for Defense Information, a Washington, D.C., group that analyzes military spending and policy. Since then, Pakistan has received millions of dollars of U.S. military assistance.
Although the U.S. has previously criticized Pakistan on human-rights issues, analysts say its continuing approval of weapons sales to Pakistan is a matter of carrots and sticks.
The carrots in this case are arms sales, including missiles and F-16 fighter jets, said David N. Gibbs, an associate professor of history and political science at the UA.
The new missiles may arm F-16 fighter jets purchased from the U.S. by Pakistan.
Raytheon said in its announcement that the purchases would "provide the bulk of the air-to-air fire power" of the Pakistan air force.
For Pakistan, Stohl said, the combination of the missiles and fighter jets "is huge."
