US general's slip exposes tank "deal"

[Grant Lee <grantlee@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Australian: US slip exposes tank 'deal' [ 27jan04 ]

[This shows the extent to which Australian forces have become a US "foreign
legion" --- the Leopard 2 appears to be both better and more suited to
conditions in SE Asia and the SW Pacific than the M1.]

US slip exposes tank 'deal'
By John Kerin
27jan04

A SENIOR US military commander says Australia has agreed to buy more than
100 US tanks for $780 million ($US600 million) in comments that pre-empt a
deal.
Defence Minister Robert Hill insisted last night that no decision had been
made on a replacement for Australia's 30-year-old Leopard tanks despite
negotiations entering a sensitive final phase.
But the commander of the Coalition Military Assistance Training team in
Iraq, Major-General Paul Eaton, said Australia had bought up to two
battalions of Abrams tanks - 108 - during a media briefing on the types of
armour the coalition could use to rebuild Iraqi tanks.
"If you're talking about the (Abrams) M1, I think Australia just made a
purchase of a couple of battalions," Major-General Eaton told a media
briefing in Baghdad on January 21. "You can check the price ... (but) I
think they paid something in the order of $US600 million."
The Howard Government is considering three tanks to replace the ageing
Leopard 1s: assorted versions of the Leopard 2, either ex-German Army A4s
and A5s or newer ex-Dutch Army A6s, the M1 Abrams from the US and the
Challenger 2 from Britain.
The US has slashed the price of the Abrams to try to be competitive with the
cheaper Leopard 2 bids, which also have the advantage of being a later
generation of the tank the army currently has in service. The Challenger is
understood not to be a serious contender.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,8503434,00.html