 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 24 - 30 June 1999 Issue No. 435
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Interview Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles People Cartoons Letters Hawkeyes upgraded
Amira IbrahimWithin the framework of military cooperation between Egypt and the United States, the US will upgrade five E2-C Hawkeye aircraft, sold to Egypt in the mid-1980's, by providing new technology at a total cost of $210 million.
The deal was announced in a Pentagon statement, which explained that upgrading Egypt's defence capabilities will help support US foreign policy and national security goals. "It [the agreement] will certainly support the security of a friendly country that has always been, and will remain, an important power for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East," the statement said. It added that Egypt needed to upgrade the aircraft if it was to maintain the abilities of its early warning system, as well as maintain its compatibility with American military systems.
The deal is seen as the outcome of successful military talks held in Washington last month between Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and US Secretary of Defence William Cohen. Three months earlier, during a visit by Cohen to Egypt, the US agreed to the sale of $3.2 billion worth of weapons, including 24 F-16 jet fighters, 200 M1A1 tanks and 32 patriot anti-missile missiles.
The 24 F-16 jet fighters, made by Lockheed Martin, will cost $1.2 billion and boost a force of 196 F-16s already serving with the Egyptian air force. The 200 tanks, costing nearly $700 million, would be assembled in Egypt and added to 555 tanks already in the Egyptian arsenal. The battery of Patriot-3 missiles, costing $1.3 billion, consists of eight firing units, each containing four missiles, made by Raytheon.
The E2-C upgrade will be carried out by Northrop Grumman and will include radar improvements, software upgrades, the provision of spare parts, support equipment and more powerful engines, in addition to training programmes.
In today's combat scenarios, attacking enemy aircraft streak in toward a target at very low levels, where the earth's curvature and surrounding confines may mask them from surface radar. When the first target signal finally appears on the air-defence centre's scopes, it's already too late to prevent the attack or to mount an effective defence.
The Grumman E2-C Hawkeye was built to prevent such situations and is designed specifically for airborne early warning. The E2-C's advanced radar system, working through a digital computer, automatically detects and tracks airborne targets over land or water.
