Bush Seeks Boost From Sale of F-16 Gear
In a move intended to help President Bush’s campaign in Texas, the Pentagon announced Wednesday that General Dynamics’ aircraft division in Fort Worth will sell updated equipment for the F-16 fighter worth $1.85 billion to four European countries.
The announcement to Congress came after months of negotiation with Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, all of which jointly build the U.S.-designed plane. The United States, which also participates in that program, initially resisted proposals to fund the development work necessary to clinch the deal.
But earlier this month, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney cleared away that hurdle by approving Pentagon spending for the necessary development, even though there is no plan to apply the program’s benefits to U.S. aircraft; the Defense Department has decided to buy new aircraft rather than update its older F-16s. Those older aircraft will be retired but could be updated later if needed by U.S. forces.
Defense industry sources said that, while the foreign sale has been in the works for some time, the timing of the announcement is no accident.
“It’s inescapable that anything that can get votes in any place like California, Texas and Pennsylvania is being done now, before the election, in an effort to affect the outcome,” said one knowledgeable industry source.
“All these things are very closely timed to the election,” said Prudential Securities aerospace analyst Paul Nisbet on Wednesday.
Under the terms of the contract announced Wednesday, General Dynamics will oversee the production and installation of new flight computers, navigation and radar systems and communications systems designed to allow the planes to distinguish friendly from hostile aircraft.
Most of the production work will be done in European plants.
But Joseph Stout, a General Dynamics spokesman, said the foreign sale will ensure the continuance of a program to develop the modernization packages at the Fort Worth division. That program currently employs 300 workers and will top out next year with a 500-person work force. Other development work will be performed by Texas Instruments of Texas and Westinghouse Electric in Baltimore.
It comes at a crucial time for General Dynamics, which is trying to sell its aircraft division. With Northrop Corp. and Lockheed Corp. both pondering the potential $1-billion purchase of the division, the foreign contracts for F-16 work are a key indication to prospective buyers that export sales will remain a significant source of income for the General Dynamics aircraft division.
The contract is the second that General Dynamics has been granted by the Administration in the weeks leading up to the election. In September, the Administration announced a decision to allow the sale of 150 F-16 fighters to Taiwan, reversing a 10-year-old ban on high-tech arms sales to that country. That decision was said to have saved 3,000 jobs in Texas.
