Could an arms supplier plant software which would allow them - or a government agency - to control or disable the equipment if they didn't like the uses to which it was being put? For example, suppose Turkey bought some F16's and then got into a dispute with Israel and tried to use the aircraft to attack that country. Could the US government/CIA/ANO disable the aircraft?
Such rumors go on for ages. That every missile in export version sold to ME includes a built in chip that is to disable it according to a radio signal, if it falls into wrong hands or used against a wrong target. But the moment this is know, is the moment the end user will switch from US missiles to European, from European to Russian, Chinese, Israeli, Indian, and in a moment notice Greenland becomes a major high tech weapon manufacturer because its missiles are free from such bugs So if such systems does exist, you cant use it unless something really terrible happens, otherwise you compromise your own weapons market. Client starts buying from your competitor. In the beginning you loose money, in the end you loose allies.
It would be useful if the equipment falls into the wrong hands, and then its use could be justified. If Isis got its hands on something, for example. Maybe the purchasers know that all the eqipment is bugged like that, no matter the manufacturer, then they don't have a choice, except to stay friendly with a certain country.
True. But will you buy a sword that requires authorization from another country to be used to protect your home and your loved ones? China will always sell you a sword less shiny, perhaps it will not be so sharp. But when you will bash someone over his head, his brains will come out, you will not hear a nice lady voice that will tell you that current version of Excalibur is a trial version, for home use only, please enter UN/NATO authorization code if you want to use this weapon in current conflict
yes, that is why all military equipment should be made in the usa and not china made, ect...... - - - Updated - - - if all your corporate systems are in the cloud and controlled by other countries... could they control what you do sure, that is why we need to end the foreign outsourcing of all our systems .
While almost certainly technically possible in a lot of cases, it’d be much more complex than you make it sound. It’d be even more difficult to keep secret and commercial and/or political suicide if it ever came out. In most cases it’s probably not worth the risk.
For sophisticated equipment such as aircraft, it is simply a matter of not supplying replacement parts. Other aspects such as the electronics and programming becomes outdated very quickly on its own.
That would almost certainly result in them turning to Russia/China instead. No country wants a US veto on their military, especially given the US's track record.
