Your charity humbles me....yeah right!!Originally posted by YourFather:LOL, alright alright, I'll grant you reprieve this time....
... and the biggest winner of all is..... Boeing !!!!Originally posted by Viper52:No offence taken. I have already stated that in the end the military answers to the government(ie the poiticians) so I was expecting an F-15 win anyway...
Kickbacks are a fact of life in the weapons trade. The cynical might say that the winner of any contracts are always the ones that give the most kickbacks. In this case maybe Dassault just forgot to pay off someone powerful who torpedoed their bid by arreting the colonel...who knows???
... and the biggest winner of all is..... Boeing !!!!Originally posted by Viper52:No offence taken. I have already stated that in the end the military answers to the government(ie the poiticians) so I was expecting an F-15 win anyway...
Kickbacks are a fact of life in the weapons trade. The cynical might say that the winner of any contracts are always the ones that give the most kickbacks. In this case maybe Dassault just forgot to pay off someone powerful who torpedoed their bid by arreting the colonel...who knows???
Dassault goes to court over Korean F-X selection process
4 April 2002
By Henry Wilson, DSD's contributing reporter
French manufacturers Dassault are pursuing legal avenues in a last ditch attempt to secure the lucrative South Korean F-X fighter contract. The strong links between the US and Korean government's look likely to sway the final judgement on the tender the way of Boeing's F-15K rather than Dassault's Rafale, but the French insist that changes to the selection process have been unfair and are seeking to delay the final decision.
The $4 billion project to acquire 40 new fighter aircraft has run into difficulties since the bidding process was begun in 1997. Civilian analysts and politicians alike have questioned the transparency and legitimacy of the selection process, and leaks regarding the relative merits of the competitors have appeared in the press. The final straw for Dassault seems to have been the decision to add "political and defence considerations" into the selection criteria.
"I question the fairness of the results, the fairness of the process and the fairness of the position of the Korean authorities," said Dassault's Vice president for international relations Yves Robins. He announced that Dassault would be seeking an injunction from the District Court to stop the second phase of the process. The first phase was concluded last week when the bids from Eurofighter and Sukhoi were eliminated.
Robins further stated that his company had not even been officially informed of the results from the first phase. "Everything we have found out has been through the press," he said. Dassault are requesting that the Korean government hand over information on how the contest has been judged and the scores for the relative bids.
Dassault have repeatedly claimed that their bid is superior to Boeing's. The Rafale would be $350 million cheaper than the F-15K and Dassault have also offered an offset programme worth $1 billion to Korean businesses. Furthermore, a leaked document is alleged to have revealed that the Korean Air Force pilots testing the aircraft, marked the French plane higher than its American rival.
However, with political considerations taken into account there can only be one winner. The US has a considerable association with South Korea and the two governments have been in talks over the situation with regard to North Korea. There are 37,000 US troops stationed in South Korea.
If Dassault's legal bid were to be successful it would mean another costly delay to a programme that has been beset by problems since its inception and this seems unlikely given that the South Korean government still insists that the process has been conducted above board. Failure to secure the contract for either Boeing or Dassault would have significant repercussions. The Rafale has not found a buyer outside of its native France, while Boeing lost out to Lockheed Martin on the Joint Strike Fighter and defeat here would spell the end of the F-15.
http://defence-data.com/current/page14078.htm
Politics prevails over good sense and logic.Originally posted by Viper52:Interesting, Mr Robins was the very gentleman I spoke to at AA2002, I still have his namecard somewhere.
What really really intrigues me is the fact that there are still countries who would cut their noses off just to spite their faces, especially a country like South Korea whos still technically in a state of war...
I understand the need to placate the US as its a close ally and there are 37,000 Americans helping to defend your country, hence you have to give precedence to ths US in weapons purchases, however by that same token, don't you have a moral obligation to get the very best you can buy(and its even cheaper) to protect those very guests and help them do their job?
My 0.02
Rubbish. What the statement means is political pressure and arm-twisting won out over quality, economy and overall good sense.Originally posted by wave:"We considered security, foreign policy and economic factors (in making the decision)," a ministry of national defense statement said.
And your point is?Originally posted by Innocent_Malaysian:this is old news....
In case you can't read dates, the original post occurred almost 6 months ago.Originally posted by Innocent_Malaysian:why the hell are you discussing old news??
Ahhh...sulking already??? Lost for words?Originally posted by Innocent_Malaysian:keep criticizing me.....
i dont care,im used to it...