US President Bill Clinton has moved to shore up a lease deal for 28 Lockheed Martin F-16s by New Zealand, following the announcement of a review of the deal by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Clark says Clinton raised the lease's future during a telephone conference on 3 December. Clinton told Clark the lease would be a key agenda item, following the appointment of a new US Ambassador to New Zealand this month.
The announcement of the review has seen moves by Sukhoi to undercut the deal, with company representatives in Australia revealing that an alternative proposal was placed before the New Zealand Labour Party before the 27 November elections. Sukhoi says the offer is a 10-year lease of Su-30s, targeting and navigation equipment, new precision-guided munitions and support equipment at a cost equivalent to the NZ$124.8 million ($63.8 million) lease component of the F-16 deal.
Other F-16-related expense includes a NZ$362.8 million ($182.7 million) aircraft reactivation package. NZ$42 million was allocated by the previous National Party Administration for new navigation and targeting pods, and precision-guided munitions for training purposes.
Source: Flight International
