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The election is real close – Skyhawks sold again!

by Whaleoil on August 13, 2008

Skyhawks sale gets a step closer – The Air Force’s white elephants, the A4 Skyhawks, are one step closer to finally being sold, seven years after they were grounded. [3 News Politics]

The election must be closer than we imagine. Three years ago just before the election, with great fanfare it was announced that the Skyhawks had been sold and it was a bloody great deal. Well they are still here and we are getting told again that the sale is imminent.

I call bullshit on this as well as the white powder scare in Wellington that disrupted the Standard authors daily dose of Key Derangement Syndrome. You would think Helen would get a better play-book than the 2005 one.

Sheesh, two WMD’s in one day, Helen must be going to call the G-G any day soon.

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  • Glutaemus Maximus

    To be fair, Georgia is missing their airforce at the moment.

    So might be true?

    Skyhawks might have made all the difference to that Campaign!

  • Panda

    I hear a company was paid 2 mil to not sell the Skyhawks
    I would have not sold them for only half of that

  • pdq

    Panda, I think you will find that was a top 5 accounting firm. And yes I understand they were paid well for that “sale” albeit blocked by the USA. The analogy is trying to get rid of a fleet of used Police circa-1974 Austin Allego’s with high mileage and confused maintenance, before they fall out of favour in 1980 (the Princess came along), only to have someone else’s LSTA interfere with the deal. Only we didn’t sheath Austin Allegros in latex, maybe the parents of its designers should have been, but that’s a debate for another day ;)

  • Mr Dennis

    And after all this fuss, and millions spent on maintenance for no purpose for 7 years, they will only get $110 million US for them. That would buy maybe 30 LAVs? This is a complete rip-off.

    They would be worth far more for us dismantled and packed in containers as a war reserve. Virtually nil maintenance costs, keep a couple flying for training purposes to have a few pilots and mechanics, work out a rapid training course that domestic pilots could be pushed through in the event of a war.

    As it is we may as well be throwing them away.

  • priapus

    Mr Goff was relishing the prospect, last night on some news bulletin or other, of holding the cheque. Simple fact is, he never will. I understood the deal to be, ‘we will think about it’, not, ‘we have authorised the sale’.

    The basic A4 was a very good industrial mud-mover, and with the RNZAF upgraded Kahu avionics, it was in a different league – as a ground attack weapon, not a fighter. While the labour government holds the treasury benches, FMS will NEVER authorise sale of still-sensitive technology.