|
The sale of AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia by the United States administration of President Ronald Reagan was a controversial part of what was then the largest foreign arms sale in US history. (See Arms Industry) The sale saw objections from a majority of Americans, prominent US Senators, the State of Israel and the Israel lobby.〔(The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) - Saudi Rattles Its Saber )〕 The sale included the five E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft and eight KE-3 refueling aircraft, with spare parts and support, delivered between June 1986 and September 1987.〔(Saudi E-3 AWACS ), Boeing〕 == AWACS == The United States Air Force began using the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft in 1977 following ten years of prototype design, development, and testing.〔Boeing, "AWACS History"; available at http://www.boeing.com/defensespace/ic/awacs/e3svcww/history.html; accessed 5 November 2005.〕 The U.S. currently has a fleet of 33 AWACS, the largest in the world. NATO possesses 17, the United Kingdom has seven, Saudi Arabia has five, and France has four.〔Boeing, "AWACS Specs"; available at http://www.boeing.com/defensespace/ic/awacs/e3svcww/e3specs.html#fusspecs; accessed 5, November 2005.〕 The AWACS plane is a modified Boeing 707 commercial jetliner characterized by the strikingly large thirty-foot rotating antenna mounted on its roof. This antenna can detect and track other aircraft within an area of , flying at any altitude or over any terrain, allowing the AWACS to detect aircraft that remain hidden from ground radar.〔Boston Globe 9/22/81〕 The planes' mobility is a crucial feature, providing for the use of this sophisticated detection equipment whenever and wherever needed; AWACS can be deployed quickly into military conflict "regardless of intensity" according to Boeing, who claims AWACS are the "world’s standard for airborne early warning systems."〔Boeing, "AWACS Overview"; available at http://www.boeing.com/defensespace/ic/awacs/e3svcww/e3overview.html; accessed 5 November 2005.〕 The Saudi AWACS bear Arabic writing on their exterior with a translation below, "Royal Saudi Air Force". The roof-mounted antenna is an AWACS plane’s dominant feature; it is a smooth black disk with a white stripe down the center, and it rotates constantly. The antenna is about a fifth of the length of the plane and it sits higher above the roof than the plane’s roof sits above the ground. Another noticeable difference from a commercial 707 is the lack of passenger windows. Colonel Walt Kowalik said about the lack of windows, "We don't want 'em ... we don't want our people looking out of windows. We want them concentrating on what's in front of them."〔 An Associated Press writer described blue carpet and "subdued" lighting, "as in a movie theatre."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「US–Saudi Arabia AWACS Sale」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|