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Here's who buys the most weapons from the U.S.

Dragonfly said:
Here's who buys the most weapons from the U.S. - CNNPolitics.com



Ummm....WHY???




Why on hell's half-acre are we selling so much to everybody else???

Is it purely capitalism?
Is it all about the money?

Seems truly odd that the USofA seems so friggin frightened of being invaded by everybody out there, yet we'll sell weapons to just about anybody out there who wants them.

This kind of crap is going to bite us hard one day.
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Second string weapons we know how to beat already, not our best stuff. :)
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Israeli ones are unlikely to be effected by that.

They tend to redo the software and some sensors with domestically developed systems. Israel is the only f35 operator who will be able to put their own systems in their planes. I believe Israel has done that with their f16 and f15s as well.

I don't think the trust anyone enough to allow their weapons to be shut down by any foreign country
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The theory was that Israel is not aware of it. That it is 'hardwired' into the planes and is activated by satelilite downlinks from American military sources and cannot be altered at the source without American assistance.

I am not saying it is true, I am just saying I read it from a fairly respected source (though I cannot recall it as it was sometime ago).
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Friend or foe identification is true. It will preventer Saudio planes from firing on US ones while the US could fire on Saudi planes. Provided the software has not been changed
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I am aware of IFF technology, thanks anyway.
 
Helix said:
going to? ****, isn't IS shooting at us with our own weapons already?

it's time to get out of the war business.
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That's what happens when we cut-n-run.
 
DA60 said:
The theory was that Israel is not aware of it. That it is 'hardwired' into the planes and is activated by satelilite downlinks from American military sources and cannot be altered at the source without American assistance.

I am not saying it is true, I am just saying I read it from a fairly respected source (though I cannot recall it as it was sometime ago).
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I would think the risk in doing so out weigh the potential benefits

Imagine if an enemy to the US was able to find out about the "kill switch". Having US fighters becoming disabled during a major battle would be far more damaging to US interests then potentially having a few fighters shot down if the US for some reason faced an enemy with US designed fighters.

Given that the US has sold the F16 to Pakistan who builds fighters with China, I would expect one of those fighters would have been provided to Chinese engineers to strip down, pile through the source code etc. If China found that "kill switch code" then in any conflict China would have a strong advantage in being able to shut down US fighters
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
I would think the risk in doing so out weigh the potential benefits

Imagine if an enemy to the US was able to find out about the "kill switch". Having US fighters becoming disabled during a major battle would be far more damaging to US interests then potentially having a few fighters shot down if the US for some reason faced an enemy with US designed fighters.

Given that the US has sold the F16 to Pakistan who builds fighters with China, I would expect one of those fighters would have been provided to Chinese engineers to strip down, pile through the source code etc. If China found that "kill switch code" then in any conflict China would have a strong advantage in being able to shut down US fighters
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Well, obviously you would only put the switch in foreign-sold US fighters. No point at all in putting them in domestic ones.

And it would obviously be an encrytped code that was unbreakable. My understanding was that it was not realistically possible to find and disdable the code no matter how hard you broke down the planes.

Whatever, like I said, I did not start the rumour nor am I defending it. I am simply passing on what I read.
 
faithful_servant said:
I think that you're half right. We should only sell very low-tech weapons or very high tech ones. The high tech ones (always a generation behind what we're using) should all be equipped with a "drone chip" that allows us to at least disable them and at best turn them on their users. Think about what would happen if we sold a bunch of F-15's to the Saudis and then got into a war with them. Suddenly, every f-15 in the air turns into a Kamikaze, diving into their most secure facilities, protected by a "Friend or Foe" beacon. :twisted:
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All USA sold hi-tech weapons can be disabled by satellite. Not really a good selling point, imho.
 
DA60 said:
Yeah...I read about those but cannot find more information about them.

I read how Israeli F-15's (and all foreign ones, I assume) can be put into safe mode by the U.S. military.

They can still fly but their radar and weapons systems become inert. They effectively become non-combat aircraft - short of kamikaze attacks.

Do you have any links to this and/or the 'drone chip' you mentioned?
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I doubt Israel would accept such a limitation. Or anyone else purchasing them.
 
Deuce said:
I doubt Israel would accept such a limitation. Or anyone else purchasing them.
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and I am sure there are enough Caltech and MIT graduates in Israel to figure out how to render such a kill switch worthless. its always easier to remove something from a tool than to install it
 
TurtleDude said:
and I am sure there are enough Caltech and MIT graduates in Israel to figure out how to render such a kill switch worthless. its always easier to remove something from a tool than to install it
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When you run out of ideas, try a hammer. That's my philosophy on life.
 
Deuce said:
When you run out of ideas, try a hammer. That's my philosophy on life.
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sounds good if your name is Thor. I prefer a CZ SP-01 myself.
 
Deuce said:
Will that work after being struck by a hammer?
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probably better than someone who tries to get into a gun fight with someone who owns one while only armed with a hammer!
 
TurtleDude said:
probably better than someone who tries to get into a gun fight with someone who owns one while only armed with a hammer!
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Thor does not fear your puny "guns."
 
Deuce said:
Thor does not fear your puny "guns."
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I don't fear myths so we are even I suppose. hammers are rarely the best tool in a violent confrontation.
 
Dragonfly said:
Here's who buys the most weapons from the U.S. - CNNPolitics.com



Ummm....WHY???




Why on hell's half-acre are we selling so much to everybody else???

Is it purely capitalism?
Is it all about the money?

Seems truly odd that the USofA seems so friggin frightened of being invaded by everybody out there, yet we'll sell weapons to just about anybody out there who wants them.

This kind of crap is going to bite us hard one day.
Click to expand...

Where do you see the problem. The weapons will be purchased in any event and it is better they buy ours than those of others.
 
Dragonfly said:
Here's who buys the most weapons from the U.S. - CNNPolitics.com



Ummm....WHY???




Why on hell's half-acre are we selling so much to everybody else???

Is it purely capitalism?
Is it all about the money?

Seems truly odd that the USofA seems so friggin frightened of being invaded by everybody out there, yet we'll sell weapons to just about anybody out there who wants them.

This kind of crap is going to bite us hard one day.
Click to expand...

Thank you for posting this, but it's rather old news--we have led the world in arms sales for quite some time.

Why? The undue influence of the MIC, just as Ike warned against in 1961.

The US does not seek peace, it seeks and brings war and destruction. I'm not happy about that, but it is a fact of life.
 
DA60 said:
I agree that America sells far too many advanced weapons to other countries...especially countries with horrible regimes like Saudi Arabia's.

Frankly, I would like to see all advanced weapons sales banned to ALL other countries.

Guns, grenades, logistical equipment and other 'simple' tools of war is fine.

But nothing advanced like combat aircraft, advanced missiles, warships, etc...and I don't care how 'friendly' the other country. Let 'em build and/or buy their own weapons from other sources.


And I am not buying that U.S. manufacturers need foreign sales. Sure, they want them. But America is BY FAR the largest purchaser of weaponry in the world, that should give her military industrial complex enough to chew on.
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And I would like my 72 virgins while still on Earth.
 
Lutherf said:
Well, if we sell aircraft, munitions and artillery to places like Saudi Arabia and the UAE we not only make a few bucks but reduce the training time to get our troops working together with theirs should the need to take on a mutual enemy come up. We also have the advantage of being intimately familiar with their capabilities if they decide to turn on us at some point. Furthermore, if we want to build newer and better weapons we need to sell the ones we're making now to somebody. I know it's a strange concept but profit tends to fund R&D.
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Profit is a dirty word to some.
 
Dragonfly said:
Here's who buys the most weapons from the U.S. - CNNPolitics.com



Ummm....WHY???




Why on hell's half-acre are we selling so much to everybody else???

Is it purely capitalism?
Is it all about the money?

Seems truly odd that the USofA seems so friggin frightened of being invaded by everybody out there, yet we'll sell weapons to just about anybody out there who wants them.

This kind of crap is going to bite us hard one day.
Click to expand...

I agree. We should sell or give weapons to any country. Today's ally can be tomorrow's enemy.We shouldn't be putting our country and future soldiers at risk with weapons that greedy politicians decided to sell to other countries.
 
Μολὼν λαβέ;1065897678 said:
And I would like my 72 virgins while still on Earth.
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72 women who don't have sex? Sure, that sounds like fun. :confused:
 
DA60 said:
The theory was that obviously they would not know about it.
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Sure, they don't know about it. But you read it somewhere on the internet.

Israeli ****ing intelligence has no idea, but DA60 read it on the internet.
 
joG said:
Where do you see the problem. The weapons will be purchased in any event and it is better they buy ours than those of others.
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Yep, I think it is just simple supply and demand. Why should South Korea have to design weapon systems from scratch, when they can buy some of the best in the world from us? It just doesn't make sense, especially for our allies, to make their own. Besides, their enemies will be using the best they can get their hands on also.
 
Deuce said:
Sure, they don't know about it. But you read it somewhere on the internet.

Israeli ****ing intelligence has no idea, but DA60 read it on the internet.
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Lol...hey, hyper boy.

It's an article I read whose contents I passed on. I didn't write the thing or agree/disagree with it.

Why you people get so worked up over nothing is beyond me.

Speaks volumes about your lives, I guess.


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