25 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial
By Karen DeYoung and Dan Lamothe
Qatar will spend $1.8 billion upgrading the major air base used by the United States for its ongoing military and counterterrorism operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf kingdom said Monday.
Expansion of the base, which houses about 10,000 U.S. military personnel, will include new family housing facilities for more than 200 officers and other infrastructure enlargements, along with “operational” improvements, Defense Minister Khaled Mohammed al-Attiyah said in an interview.
The improvements, to be formally announced at a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, were previewed this year in meetings between Attiyah and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. They come as Qatar and its gulf rivals, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are in the midst of a deep regional dispute and competing for closer relations with the United States.
Last summer, fresh from a triumphant visit to Saudi Arabia, President Trump sided with the Saudis and Emiratis when they broke relations with Qatar and accused it of ties to terrorism.By fall, however, Trump backed off after Mattis and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that it was unwise to take sides in what was a long-standing rivalry, and reminded him of U.S. military interests in Qatar.
Since then, he has repeatedly called on them to mend their differences and offered to mediate. Last April, when Trump hosted a visit by Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar was described as a “valued partner and longtime friend” that provided “critical support” for operations against the Islamic State.
Qatar is also viewed as a major donor to administration plans to provide development assistance to Gaza and the West Bank as part of a still-unrevealed U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Qatar is a major customer for the U.S. defense industry, including last year's purchase of $12 billion worth of F-15s. “We have bought a lot of military equipment from the U.S. so we can fly hand in hand with our partners,” Attiya said.
He dismissed any notion of regional rivalry, saying that Qatar is “not very much interested in rivalry” but rather was interested in “the stability of the region.”
According to a background statement from the Qatar government, the contract for 36 F-15 fighter jets “supports 50,000 total jobs and more than 550 suppliers in 42 states.” Other recent purchases include $20 million worth of Javelin guided missiles, $700 million in logistics support services and equipment, and an estimated $200 million in weapons systems “which support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States.”
But the centerpiece of U.S.-Qatar ties is Al Udeid Air Base, home to scores of aircraft, including fighters, bombers, tankers and reconnaissance planes.
The base is key to U.S. military efforts in the Middle East and has played a central role in the Pentagon's air campaign against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. In addition to the large U.S. troop presence, it is also the headquarters of Air Forces Central Command, headed by a three-star U.S. general, and a combined air operations center from which the Pentagon tracks the maneuvers of aircraft throughout the region.
The U.S. military relationship with Qatar expanded rapidly in the 1990s and early part of the 21st century, as the Qataris built Al Udeid and encouraged the United States to use it. The Pentagon moved its air operations center there from Saudi Arabia in 2003, after Riyadh denied the United States permission to use its Prince Sultan Air Base to attack Iraq.
Qatar's willingness to let the United States fly bombers from Al Udeid is seen as particularly significant. Other nations in the region do not allowed bombers, but the Pentagon has had a steady rotation of bomber squadrons through the base. A unit of B-1B bombers arrived this spring, replacing B-52s that carried out airstrikes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria over the previous two years.
The U.S. military has spent about $450 million in construction at Al Udeid since 2003, expanding the facility from an expeditionary airfield in which many U.S. troops lived in tents to the more permanent structures there today. Qatar calculates it has spent $8 billion there to support U.S. operations.
The U.S. presence at Tuesday's ceremony is expected to be relatively low-level, as defense officials try to distance themselves from the ongoing inter-gulf dispute.
Attiya said that Qatar hoped eventually to see Al Udeid declared a permanent American facility.
“Of course we would like to see our colleagues and allies permanently staying here with us,” Attiya said. But the main purpose of the expansion, he said, “is that we have men and women away from home and we are trying always to modify and expand, just to make their stay comfortable.”
Over the next five years, Qatar is also building two major new “top-of-the-line” naval bases, Attiyah said, both of which would be “able to host our partner the United States if they feel that it is convenient to send their navy as well.”
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YUKIO TAJIMA, Nikkei staff writer TOKYO -- Lockheed Martin has proposed that Japanese companies be responsible for more than half of the development and production of a next-generation fighter jet that Japan wants to introduce in 2030, Nikkei learned Wednesday. Lockheed is offering Japan an upgraded version of the existing F-22. The U.S. currently bans exports of the plane known as "the Raptor," which is considered the world's most powerful fighter, has stealth capabilities and is armed with eight air-to-air missiles. The U.S. aircraft manufacturer's decision to open the production to Japan comes out of the belief that there is little risk of technology leaks. The company also says providing the jet to Japan would contribute to the security of Asia. If the share of work pans out as proposed, it would strengthen Japan's defense industry and the Japan-U.S. alliance. Lockheed's proposal comes in response to concerns in Japan that American companies might monopolize the development and production of the upgraded warplane, leaving little room for Japanese partners' involvement. The company calls the plan a Japan-led framework. The next-generation fighter will replace Japan's F-2 jets, scheduled to retire around 2030. Tokyo initially looked for ways for Japan Inc. to completely develop a successor on its own, hoping to boost the domestic defense industry's orders, but the idea proved unfeasible due to technological and cost hurdles. The Japanese government sees Lockheed's proposal, which could deliver high performance at reduced development costs, as the most promising alternative. The next-generation fighter program is estimated to cost about 6 trillion yen ($54.2 billion), including development, acquisition and maintenance. Some voices are citing a need to update the F-22, which has been deployed since around 2000, and Lockheed's plan has the benefit of lowering upgrade costs shouldered by the U.S. Although Japan produced 60% of the jointly developed F-2, the U.S. handled engine development since Japan did not have the basic technology at the time. But Lockheed has expressed a willingness this time to shift development and production of new engines to major Japanese heavy machinery maker IHI in the future. If IHI's XF9-1 jet engine is adopted, Japanese companies could be responsible for more than 60% of the total work. In addition, the exports of high--margin military equipment for the project could ease the U.S. trade deficit with Japan. Mitsubishi Electric's fighter jet electronics system could be adopted, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will handle the development and production of wings, according to the plan. The aircraft's body, engines and the fighter system are to be made in the U.S., but Lockheed intends to use more Japanese-made components, incorporating them gradually until Japanese companies play a central role in development. To hasten development, Lockheed will send Japan F-22s that have not been deployed by the U.S. Air Force so that it can grasp its performance in advance. The updates will improve the plane's main wings and allow more fuel to be loaded, increasing the jet's range to about 2,200 km so it can be used to defend isolated islands and other missions. Although the F-22 has the most advanced stealth abilities in the world, it requires a special coating that is laborious to maintain. Maintenance will be simplified by using the same material as the F-35 stealth fighter, making it easier to perform drills and deploy for battle. One challenge is the cost. Lockheed estimates the price of the next-generation fighter will be far higher than the F-35's 15 billion yen-per-jet price tag. Lockheed estimates the price of a next-generation F-22 at about 24 billion yen if it is part of an order of 70 aircraft. Producing 140 of the jets could reduce the unit price to about 21 billion yen. There is also concern that including Japanese companies, which have not independently developed a fighter jet in recent years, could complicate production and ramp up costs. Lockheed initially estimated that the F-35A would cost about 10 billion yen per jet. Costs temporarily rose to 17 billion yen, however, when assembly was given to Japanese companies, a cause for concern this time. Some doubt that the U.S. will fully disclose core technology for the world's most powerful fighter jet. Although Lockheed plans to outfit the jet with several Japan-made weapons in an effort to include as much domestic technology as possible, the U.S. will initially be responsible for most of the work, with Japanese companies gradually joining the process later. It is unclear, however, when development will proceed to that second stage. "It is likely that the U.S. will not want to give up such core technologies as fighter systems and software," said Heigo Sato, a professor at Takushoku University. "The technological spillover to Japanese companies would be limited if they mostly receive subcontracting work." Although Mitsubishi Heavy assembles the F-35, which has begun deployment, it has been pointed out that having that job has hardly improved the company's technology knowledge. The U.S. Congress also turned down Japan's request for the F-22 to succeed the F-4 a decade ago because of hesitance about transferring military technology. Should technology transfers from the U.S. slow, it may hinder Japan's continued development of fighter jet technology. Japan must choose whether to develop its own jet, jointly develop with another country or update existing aircraft. Tokyo will make its decisions at the end of the year in its revised medium-term defense program. Boeing and Britain's BAE Systems have also made submitted proposals to upgrade existing planes. https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Lockheed-offers-Japan-majority-of-work-in-plan-for-new-fighter-jet