A stray thought on the weapons we sell...

[uawchild]

Do you think the hi-tech military equipment we sell overseas has any built in software back doors to disable the equipment?

Like, do the fighter jets we sell scan for some secret off signal that we could one day use to make the plane fall from the sky?

Like I said, just a stray thought.

[Aristus]

1. That is an interesting thought.

Like Robocop being unable to arrest an executive of OmniCorp.

If we ever go up one day against an opponent who uses our jets, tanks, etc. it would be interesting to see what happens.

In the Gulf in 1991, we went up against some of our own M-48 and M-60 tanks we sold to the Iraqi Army, along with the Soviet-made tanks Saddam Hussein bought. This was before electronic communications gear was a part of tank technology. And we wouldn't have needed a remote 'shut-off' switch anyway. The Iraqi troops were so poorly trained and motivated, they were sitting ducks.

[NightWatcher]

2. It would be cool if we could disable them before they get used on us

It would've been great had we this same tech (which I don't think exists) back when we armed the mujahideen back in the day.

[Heeeeers Johnny]

3. It would be foolish if we didn't.

IIRC, the French did this with the Mirage fighters they had sold to Iraq.

As a result, they were able to effectively ground them during the 1st Gulf war.

[DustyJoe]

4. I'd worry more about our planes

With so many chinese mfg circuit boards and chips bought from China in our weapons systems and personal electronics the chance of us getting hit in the ass by a back door is probably pretty high. Two articles detail how chips are scrubbed, remarked and sold to US military.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18155293

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/counterfeit-chinese-parts-slipping-us-military-aircraft-senate/story?id=16403599

[mwrguy]

5. We sell "nerfed" versions

With inferior avionics, etc...