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Are there "kill switches" on imported American weapons?

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  • Are there "kill switches" on imported American weapons?

    I just read a spirited and rather weird debate/fight on another forum about this topic. Is such a thing even possible and could there be any truth to it?

  • #2
    Originally posted by calass View Post
    I just read a spirited and rather weird debate/fight on another forum about this topic. Is such a thing even possible and could there be any truth to it?
    What kind of weapons are we talking about?

    I doubt there are any "official" kill switches on any weapon. Who would want to buy that? Unofficially, there might be ways to make the weapons easier to disable...
    "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by gunnut View Post
      What kind of weapons are we talking about?

      I doubt there are any "official" kill switches on any weapon. Who would want to buy that? Unofficially, there might be ways to make the weapons easier to disable...
      The topic was about aircrafts but with references to how allegedly Hezbollah stingers refused to fire on Israeli targets as an example of how it could be done.

      I don't know how difficult it would be to bug an aircrafts electronics but I can't imagine that it would be impossible.
      Last edited by calass; 05 Mar 10,, 02:27.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by calass View Post
        The topic was about aircrafts but with references to how allegedly Hezbollah stingers refused to fire on Israeli targets as an example of how it could be done.

        I don't know how difficult it would be to bug an aircrafts electronics but I can't imagine that it would be impossible.
        That may have been the IFF's doing. The smuggled Stingers see American manufactured Israeli planes as "friends" so they won't lock on.

        I seem to recall a thread here talking about French's assistance to the UK during the Falklands War. Thatcher demanded the French to provide some information on how to defeat Exocets operated by the Argentine forces.
        "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by gunnut View Post
          That may have been the IFF's doing. The smuggled Stingers see American manufactured Israeli planes as "friends" so they won't lock on.

          I seem to recall a thread here talking about French's assistance to the UK during the Falklands War. Thatcher demanded the French to provide some information on how to defeat Exocets operated by the Argentine forces.
          I believe you're right, gunnut; IIRC, early models of the Stinger weren't equipped with an IFF receiver, but when we started selling them to third-world countries (anyone else remember Iran-Contra?), we shipped them with IFF receivers so that they couldn't be used against our own aircraft.
          "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

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