Warplanes: May 26, 2000

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The US is quietly furious that the British decided to arm their fighters with the European METEOR missile instead of an improved version of the US AMRAAM missile. The Europeans wanted to keep their own military industrial base, and were concerned that buying the US missile would mean giving the US a virtual veto power over the sale of the Eurofighter Typhoon by blocking missile sales. The US publicly expressed disappointment over the missed opportunity for international cooperation.--Stephen V Cole