The Reagan administration is considering a possible $14-million sale of Sidewinder missiles to Jordan, a well-placed Capitol Hill source said Friday.
A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment on the prospect, except to confirm that Congress has not been notified officially of such plans.
The missiles, which the source termed the “most-advanced” air-to-air missiles to date that the United States has made available for foreign governments to buy, would be deployed from eight Tornado fighter bombers that Jordan is in the process of buying from Great Britain.
A congressional source confirmed that the Reagan administration has begun consulting Congress on the issue. The source expressed concern that the sale could reduce the qualitative superiority of Israel’s air force over Arab states.
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.
