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Fifth Column
F-14 Parts Sold Despite Sales Ban
2007-08-11
Associated Press | August 02, 2007

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Defense Department sold more than hundreds of aircraft parts that could be used on F-14 fighter jets - a plane flown only by Iran - after announcing it had halted sales of such surplus, government investigators say.

In a report issued Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the Defense Department had improved security in its surplus program to prevent improper sales of sensitive items.

But investigators found that roughly 1,400 parts that could be used on F-14 Tomcat fighter jets were sold in February. That came after the Pentagon announced it had suspended sales of all parts that could be used on the Tomcat while it reviewed the security situation.

Take Action: Tell your public officials how you feel about this issue.

Iran, trying to keep its F-14s able to fly, is aggressively seeking components from the retired U.S. Tomcat fleet.

The Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, the Pentagon's surplus sales division, told investigators the parts were sold because it failed to update an automated control list and remove the aircraft parts before they were listed on its Internet sales site.

Video: Pentagon Sold F-14 Parts Sought by Iran

The GAO's investigation focused on F-14 parts. Iran is known to be seeking those, and if the parts were available publicly, it could endanger national security, Greg Kutz, the GAO's managing director of special investigations, wrote in the report. Iran has managed to obtain U.S. spares in the past, he said.

Posted by:Icerigger

#3  Or if they could be switched off at the most inconvenient moment. >:-)
Posted by: gorb   2007-08-11 18:35  

#2  If no engines or avonics were sold, then it would probably be safe to assume that Iran laid out lots of cracker for stuff that really won't extend their hanger queens' flight hours.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-08-11 18:18  

#1  Doesn't seem very smart unless the parts are defective and dangerous.
Posted by: JohnQC   2007-08-11 18:10  

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