President Carter was reported yesterday to be considering a plan to provide Egypt with F-15 fighters, the best combat aircraft in the U.S. arsenal, but wants Egypt to settle for the time being for the less sophisticated F-16s. According to White House sources, Carter told President Anwar Sadat in a letter over the weekend that he would be willing to consider supplying F-15s but the offer was essentially an attempt to show Sadat that he does not consider Egypt a “second class friend.”
The Carter letter was reportedly in reply to a query by Sadat about the F-15s. Administration sources said the Egyptians also asked for 80 F-16s but the U.S. wants to provide only 38 at this time. The sources indicated that the Carter Administration will try to convince Egypt that, at least for the time being, it should not press for the F-15s because they cost more than $17 million apiece, have expensive maintenance requirements and a long delivery period.
It was indicated, however, that the main reason for the Administration’s caution is that it wants to avoid concern in Israel that the F-15s might conceivably be used against it should Sadat fall from power and another Egyptian leader take over who might not support the peace process or U.S. strategy in the Middle East. The U.S. is committed to sell the slower F-16s to Saudi Arabia and Israel. Israel is getting F-15s as well.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
