In the early 1990s, Al Nahyan told Richard Clarke, then an assistant secretary of state, that he wanted to buy the F-16 fighter jet. Clarke replied that he must mean the F-16A, the model the Pentagon sold to American allies. Al Nahyan said no, he wanted a newer model he'd read about in Aviation Week, with an advanced radar-and-weapons system. Clarke told him that that model didn't exist yet; the military hadn't done the necessary research and development. Al Nahyan said the UAE would pay for the research and development. The subsequent negotiations went on for years, and according to Clarke “he ended up with a better F-16 than the U.S. Air Force had”.