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The U.S. is responsible for nearly 33% of worldwide exports -- by far the top arms exporter on the planet --
Saudi Arabia was the top recipient of American-made arms from 2011-2015, followed closely by the United Arab Emirates, according to research compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which has been analyzing international arms transfers since 1968.
The rest of the top 10 included Turkey, South Korea, Australia, Taiwan, India, Singapore, Iraq, and Egypt.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
Let's think about this for a minute. Say you have a good trade relationship with country X. Not only does X have resources we need but they are also located in close proximity to a number of other less than stable nations. If we want to maintain our deal on those resources then we will either need to support X if they are attacked or work out some way for them to protect themselves. As long as X remains stable and remains an ally they will be a good reason for those unstable nations to stay settled down (more or less). Furthermore, other nations also want the resources X has and if X starts to feel like we don't support them they will turn to other nations for that support.
The bottom line in such a scenario is that it's less expensive for us to sell X the means to defend itself than to risk losing the resources X has and/or having to defend X on our own.
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.
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?
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:
I'm strictly talking out my butt on this one... 100% theoretical...
I get your point.
But, imo, either the country is worth fighting for or it is not.
If Americans (through Congress) vote to send in troops to help a nation...so be it. If they don't, then the nation is on it's own (short of the U.N. or NATO).
I am not big on America getting involved in other countries problems/business...short of humanitarian aid or international defense efforts (like the first Gulf War, for example).
If other countries want the low tech stuff..great. Buy all you want.
But I am against ANY other country receiving ANY high tech, American weapon systems...even if it is a generation behind (like F-16's).
America should do everything it can to maintain it's technological edge over the world. I don't like U.S. taxpayers forking over their hard earned dollars to fund the development of advanced weapons systems that are then simply sold to other countries - no matter how 'friendly' they are.
if those other countries want advanced weapons...let them develop them themselves, buy them from someone else or do without.
But that's part of the equation. Those sales offset a lot of the cost we would otherwise incur internally. If Lockheed Martin can sell a billion dollars worth of electronics and aviation controls to Saudi Arabia the profit from that deal supplements R&D we would have to pay for ourselves.
That would only help American taxpayers if American military manufacturers were developing a weapons system jointly with a foreign company AND IF America and the foreign country were going to procur similar numbers of the weapon system being developed.
Otherwise, it would not help U.S. taxpayers because:
a) Lockheed Martin is not going to spread out R&D costs to different platforms. They are not going to go 'Gee, we saved billions on those Saudi sales so we will put that towards F-35 R&D'. It does not work like that...they base the R&D per unit cost base on the R&D costs for that weapons system only. That is why the B-2 and the F-22 price's went through the roof. Because Congress drastically cut back the numbers bought, which spread the huge R&D costs over less airframes which sent their per unit overall costs to the Moon.
So whatever the R&D costs for the F-35 are going to be are going to be exactly the same and cost American taxpayers exactly the same - no matter how many other weapons systems Lockheed Martin sells.
and b) almost all the R&D costs of say the F-16 are long paid off. If Lockheed Martin sells F-16's to Saudi Arabia, that is almost pure profit (in terms of R&D costs). The U.S. taxpayer saves nothing...it's just Lockheed Martin that benefits.
With all due respect, R&D is ongoing for all industries. If the only time a company decided to look into new technology is when the government says "we need one of these" we'd still be arming our soldiers with rocks and sticks.
With all due respect, no it is not.
IF that were true - then why did the per unit costs of the F-22 and the B-2 go through the roof when their procurements were cut way back?
Because they DO NOT spread R&D costs onto other weapons systems when they are charging U.S. taxpayers.
When they charge Uncle Sam R&D costs on the F-35...they charge the ENTIRE R&D costs to the government...they NEVER charge less based on additional profits from other parts of their corporation.
In other words, if they sell more F-16's to Saudi Arabis, that will not - imo - lower the R&D cost per plane on the F-35 one penny.
Those extra F-16 profits just go to LM's bottom line and to their shareholders through dividends.
Also, you are forgetting that U.S. taxpayers often pay the other countries to buy the U.S. weapons. Israel, for instance, basically gets all it's U.S. weapons for free. Who pays for that...the U.S. taxpayer. The same with Egypt. And many other countries.
Also, the vast majority of American advanced weapons system sales are to the United States military. The profits from foreign sales pales in comparison to U.S. sales.
Finally, I would not care if everything you said was 100% true...I do not want U.S. military technology shared with other countries...period.
I guarantee you American advanced weapons manufacturers can make enough money from selling their high tech weapons exclusively to the U.S. military. If Israel - with only about 6 million people - can develop some of the best battle tanks in the world from their tiny tax base, then Lockheed Martin and all the other US military manufacturers can develop fantastic weapons from their massive American tax base (for example).
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?
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 changedToo bad...I was hoping it was true.
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.
Israel and Egypt are pretty much the only nations that allow to use FMF funds for weapons acquisitions. Granted, outside of Iraq and Afghanistan (due to current circumstances) they are the largest beneficiaries of US hardware but they are hardly the only purchasers. You can find a rundown of recent purchases here - Major Arms Sales | The Official Home of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency
Note that those acquisitions are in the multiple billion dollar range just on that one page.
Now, when the DoD decides that it needs a new weapons system it opens the process up to bidding and yes, the corporation(s) that get the contract bill all R&D for that project to the DoD. However, that isn't the only R&D that's happening. These companies also like to come up with new ideas to sell to the military (both US and foreign).
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