Pentagon Blooper

[spike]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon accidentally sold to the public more than a thousand aircraft parts that could be used on the F-14 fighter jet — a plane flown only by Iran — after saying it had halted such sales, government investigators say.
In a report obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, says the Defense Department has greatly improved security in its surplus sales program to prevent the improper selling of sensitive items.

However, GAO investigators found that roughly 1,400 parts that could be used on F-14 "Tomcat" fighter jets were sold to the public in February. That occurred after the Pentagon announced it had suspended sales of all parts that could be used on the Tomcat while it reviewed security concerns.

Iran, trying to keep its F-14s flyable, is aggressively seeking U.S. components for the jets.

The Pentagon's surplus sales division — the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service — told investigators the parts were sold because it failed to successfully update an automated control list and remove the aircraft parts before they were listed on its Internet sales site.

The GAO's investigation focused on F-14 parts.

"One country with operational F-14s, Iran, is known to be seeking these parts," Greg Kutz, the GAO's managing director of special investigations, wrote in the report. "If such parts were publicly available, it could jeopardize national security."

The GAO report was expected to be released later Wednesday.

The Defense Department said in January that it was suspending sales of all F-14 parts, including those that could be used on multiple types of aircraft, while it reviewed security. The department's announcement came a few weeks after an investigative report by The Associated Press found weaknesses in surplus-sale security that allowed buyers for Iran, China and other countries to surreptitiously obtain sensitive U.S. military gear including missile components and parts for the Tomcat and Chinook helicopter.

Legislation that would ban the Defense Department from selling F-14 parts has cleared the House and is pending in the Senate.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-08-01-pentagon-parts_N.htm

 

[unclehobart]

I'm shocked to think that Iran actually has people with the techincal expertise to keep up on the maintenence of such a tricky aircraft. They might be able to keep the planes flying... but theres no way they can get the bullets and bombs to keep it deadly. Its not like there was an Iran/Contra or Afghani war or an invasion of Iraq to facilitate a black market.

Even if they were fully functional and armed with standard armament, they are all but useless against a major player like the Brits, US, and Russia as they don't have AWACS, military sattelites, or decent radar guidance to make them effective in a theater conflict. They are only useful in limited one-on-one engagements or for napalming the locals... and they already have planes that can do that.

Not trying to say that selling F-14 parts are a good thing. I think all sensitive military hardware that we paid trillions for in R&D should be hashed up when outdated. I dislike selling high level arms to unstable governments.