Wikileaks shows US played AESA trick on Gripen in Norway
By Stephen Trimble on December 3, 2010 12:35 PM
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-d ... -aesa.html
It was September 2008 in Oslo, and a member of the US embassy named "Whitney" was very worried about the Saab Gripen's bid for Norway's fighter contract.
"Public opinion has swung away from the F-35 due to negative coverage," he wrote in a non-classified cable titled "Norway Fighter Purchase: High-Level Advocacy Needed Now".
The consequences of Norway selecting the Gripen gravely worried the US embassy, according to the cable obtained by Wikileaks and disclosed this morning by the Aftonbladet newspaper.
"Norway's decision on this purchase will either end or sustain one of the strongest pillars of our bilateral relationship and could impact subsequent Danish and Dutch decisions on the F-35, affecting NATO joint operational capacity and the vulnerability of the Northern Flank," the diplomat identified only as Whitney wrote in the cable.
It was an important decision, and the US had to play its cards carefully.
But the embassy had already acted to thwart Gripen's bid in Norway behind the scenes. Saab had previously requested that the US approve a Raytheon-made active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar -- a key upgrade as the non-stealthy Gripen competed against the stealthy, Northrop Grumman AESA-equipped F-35 in Norway. Because the AESA was American technology, the US was not obligated to release the radar to a foreign competitor.
So it didn't.
"Given this potential impact of AESA releasability on the Norway competition, and possibly the Denmark competition," says a US cable dated 8 July, "we suggest postponing the decision on AESA releasability for the Gripen until after Norway's decision in December."
On 20 November 2008, the Norway ministry of defense strongly recommended the F-35 and -- in a move that surprised even the US embassy, according to 25 November cable -- sharply criticized the Gripen's capabilities.