Spain buys Israeli arms

[Felix the Cat]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18230932%255E1702,00.html

SPAIN will buy 2600 surface-to-surface missiles and 260 missile launchers from the Israeli arms firm Rafael, an official Spanish source said today.

The source confirmed a press report yesterday of the deal which said it was worth 250 million euros.

Rafael had faced competition from a US consortium of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and Europe's MBDA in the bid to for one of the Spanish defense ministry's biggest current military purchases, El Mundo reported.

"Effectively, the news is correct – even if the contract is not signed, it will be shortly. The date is not yet set," the source said.

El Mundo quoted military sources as saying the Israeli missile Spike, which can be fired from a distance of 4km from the target and controlled in flight, fulfilled the technical criteria Spain was looking for to a greater degree than those of the rival bidders.

The missiles and launchers will be used to equip both the army and naval infantry.

[Ambrosio Spinola]

Spain has never had any decent modern army since the Pensacola Campaign in the American independence war.

[Niko Bellic]

Is it the intent of this thread to say that the deal is a problem?

Weapons are one of the things Israel has a talent with. I'm sure the missles are good.

[Felix the Cat]

I find it interesting that a leftwing government has such close ties with Israel

If the British government tried to do this, there would be uproar in the Labour Party

[Jimbo Gomez]

I find it interesting that a leftwing government has such close ties with Israel

If the British government tried to do this, there would be uproar in the Labour Party


I thought the Labour Party was the zionist one, more so than the Tories.

[Felix the Cat]

Israel indeed owes its existance to the Labour Party, but that was a long time ago

Now the party is filled with people who think Israel=Apartheid South Africa=Evil

[Billy Score]

Weren't the spaniards still using those metal conquistador helmets (or at least, some steel helmet) well into the 20th century? I heard something like this somewhere.