6-13-11 Um, excuse me? Someone has apparently managed to steal eight, yes, eight retired Pratt & Whitney F100 fighter jet engines that power F-15s and F-16s from an Israeli air base, according to an AFP article.
How on Earth did this happen in one of the world’s most security-conscious nations? I mean, each engine weighs several tons and requires a serious truck to move them. Can anyone say inside job? For now, the IAF is saying the engines were likely stolen for scrap metal. I mean, the F100 isn’t exactly cutting edge engine tech. Heck, depending on the variant, those stolen F100s may be the version that was plagued with so many problems that it prompted the U.S. Air Force to commission GE to build its F110 as an alternate engine to the F100 in the 1980s.
The real concern here isn’t the technology in the engines being stolen, it’s the fact that the IAF (or at least units at that base) is so corrupt that eight jet engines were stolen in plain view. You can’t exactly sneak them out of a hangar in your pocket.
Read more: http://defensetech.org/2011/06/13/eight-jet-engines-stolen-from-israeli-afb/#ixzz1PekhjE9G
Israel's military police on Monday opened an inquiry into the theft of airplane parts, a spokeswoman said without confirming press reports that eight fighter-jet engines had been stolen.
"The military police have opened an inquiry into the matter," she told AFP without giving further detail or confirming reports of the theft from Tel Nof airbase near Tel Aviv.
Air force officials quoted in the Maariv newspaper said the stolen parts were eight engines from F-15 and F-16 fighter jets which were taken from Tel Nof air base.
They said it was not immediately clear when the theft took place, but said the parts were no longer in use and had most likely been stolen for their value as scrap metal, the paper said.
Investigators quoted by the paper said each engine weighed "several tonnes" and could only have been taken away on large trucks, prompting speculation that the thieves had help from inside the base.
Military officials quoted by Israel HaYom newspaper described the theft as "very serious."
http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/Fighter-jet-engines-stolen-afpsg-6843...
Submitted by andie531 on Sat, 2011-06-18 19:12
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