Military Industrial Complex

[SphereOfFeetMan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7264394.stm

Emphasis mine.

Gates in India to push US firms

Robert Gates has praised India's deepening ties with the US
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has arrived in Delhi on a two-day visit aimed at bolstering military ties and promoting US arms manufacturers.
US firms are competing with Russian and European rivals for a multi-billion dollar deal to sell India fighter jets.

Mr Gates has said he wants to "expand" India's "significantly improved relationship" with the US. India has largely relied on Russian arms imports.

India meanwhile says it successfully tested a new type of ballistic missile.

The nuclear-capable missile was launched from an underwater platform off the south-eastern coast of India, a defence ministry official told the AFP news agency.

The new missile is expected to serve a nuclear submarine being built by India.

'Best package'

Mr Gates is expected to spend his two-day visit lobbying for US firms that hope to win a contract to supply India with 126 new fighter jets.


US firms such as Lockheed are hoping to secure deals in India

US-based Lockheed and Boeing are competing for the deal, valued at between $10bn-$12bn.

Other firms fighting for the contract include Russia's Mig, France's Dassault, Sweden's Saab and the Eurofighter consortium of British, German, Italian and Spanish companies.

The deadline for the bids expires next week.

A US official told Reuters news agency Mr Gates would aim to show that Americans offered not only the best product but the best maintenance package too.

US firms "operate with integrity", the official said, "which is different than what India has seen with other partners in the world".

Nuclear deal

Speaking before his visit, Mr Gates said the improved relationship between India and US had been one of the most significant changes since he was last in government 15 years ago.

"I want to see what we can do to not only strengthen that [relationship] but perhaps expand it in other ways," he said.

Defence co-operation between India and the US has increased dramatically since the end of the Cold War, with both countries seemingly driven by a desire to check China's growing military influence.

India earlier this month agreed a $1bn deal to buy military transport aircraft from US firm Lockheed Martin.

However, a key deal that would see the US supply India with nuclear technology for civilian uses has yet to be approved by India.

The deal, which would end a three-decade US ban on nuclear exports to India, is opposed by the Indian government's communist allies.

Wow. I am familiar with the concept of the military industrial complex, but I had no idea this was going on. It has progressed to the point that part of the US Defense Secretary's job is to personally travel to other countries and hawk for US corporations.

Thoughts?

[SunTzuWarmaster]

I don't like how deep into this that Lockheed is, but in general they are selling US planes (which used to be made/designed by the government but have been contracted out, mostly) to India.

In general, I like to be supplying 'allied' countries with 'defense' technology. This means that they are less likely to attack us and raises our national exports.

Of course, at this point someone usually jumps and and says that I support baby-killing massacres somewhere else because India....(you get the point).

[Crissa]

...And the wingers who make this happen wonder why downtrodden peoples in the rest of the world hate us...

-Crissa

[Username17]

This actually isn't new. The government has been lobbying for American corporations for over a century. Hell, we've invaded countries just to give specific US firms a better market share. We annexed Hawaii for Dole Pineapple because the King wasn't playing ball.

In this case India gets their planes from the Russian Federation as part of an alliance where Bharat funds Muscovite super science in exchange for getting half the super planes. Every time you get redirected to a Madras call center, you are funding Russian super weapons.

Since the Cold War is on again because George W is a fucking moron and Putin smells weakness, India's defense sharing plans with Russia are considered a threat to the US. Of course, India is not going to stop because Russia lets India own and operate some of the factories and historically the US would never allow that. Also, Russia has better planes than we do and Pakistan is using American jets.

-Username17

[Crissa]

Crazily, the American Enterprise Institute is all harping on the Academic Industrial Complex for changing the words we use to communicate to be more respectful of the diversity of people in the world.

I don't even know what the Academic Industrial Complex is, but if there's anyplace that's the head of the American Military Industrial Complex, it's the AEI.

-Crissa