Um, excuse me? Someone has apparently managed to steal eight, yes, eight retired Pratt & Whitney F100 fighter jet engines that power F-15s and F-16s from an Israeli air base, according to an AFP article.

How on Earth did this happen in one of the world’s most security-conscious nations? I mean, each engine weighs several tons and requires a serious truck to move them. Can anyone say inside job? For now, the IAF is saying the engines were likely stolen for scrap metal. I mean, the F100 isn’t exactly cutting edge engine tech. Heck, depending on the variant, those stolen F100s may be the version that was plagued with so many problems that it prompted the U.S. Air Force to commission GE to build its F110 as an alternate engine to the F100 in the 1980s.

The real concern here isn’t the technology in the engines being stolen, it’s the fact that the IAF (or at least units at that base) is so corrupt that eight jet engines were stolen in plain view. You can’t exactly sneak them out of a hangar in your pocket.