Israeli Systems in Oman Causing an Uproar

Oman air force acquired F-16 fighters with information recording systems by the Israeli company RADA installed onboard them. The US TEAC did not like this, and sent a harsh memo to senior Oman air force officials.

The installation of Israeli-produced recording equipment onboard the F-16 fighters that Oman acquired from the US resulted in harsh reactions by the US company TEA. Information recording systems produced by the Israeli company RADA was installed onboard 12 of the F-16 fighters that Oman acquired.

A memo issued by TEAC to Oman’s air force stated that it was surprised to discover that Israeli systems were installed onboard F-16 fighters, including those previously acquired by Oman, instead of its own information receivers.

The memo stated that the installation of the various systems will result in higher maintenance expenses and claimed that the Israeli systems were also offered to the Egyptian, Iraqi and Turkish air forces, where they were rejected. The memo stated that TEAC’s information receiver is additionally installed onboard the Eurofighter combat aircraft Oman is considering acquiring, and that the company believes that it will further increase maintenance costs as they would be shared between two system models.

Lockheed Martin, producer of the F-16 fighter, refused to comment on the memo on the grounds that the company does not respond with regards to operational demands of its clients.