Britain advised by US insiders to reduce UK reliance on US military equipment | Hacker News Reader

Britain advised by US insiders to reduce UK reliance on US military equipment

thetimes.com

31 pointsthrow0101c15 comments

https://archive.is/https://www.thetimes.com/uk/defence/artic...

"If countries are “deemed not to be doing what you are told you will suddenly find out missiles won’t fire and planes won’t fly. You have got to be careful."

So if a country buys US military equipment, they don't really own it, just like normal consumers don't really own their game consoles, which will become useless without the online services they depend on.

> So if a country buys US military equipment, they don't really own it, just like normal consumers don't really own their game consoles, which will become useless without the online services they depend on.

Much like Kindle gives you the license to read but did not give you the actual book's ownership.

Yes. Although not being able to use your military equipment when needed would be a much bigger problem than not being able to play your console games or read your Kindle book.

I wonder how the new subs are going?

The loss of credibility and trustworthiness will only make the US smaller and weaker.

I'm telling you folks, we're talking fantastic Russian assets! The best assets, the greatest assets. Tear down US hegemony faster than you can blink. Russia's going to be winning so hard, you'll be tired of them winning

And poorer. Who's going to buy US arms if that's the way they are?

It is also going to make the US poorer in that we can't build our weapons. Selling F-35 to our allies was way to build closer connections. Part of that was spreading around parts production.

F-35 production could become leverage. But countries like UK, Canada, and Netherlands could retaliate by stopping making parts. It would cost a lot of money and time to move parts production. And ruin relationships with allies.

Particularly interesting given the UK’s nuclear deterrent relies on a delivery system consisting of a co-mingled pool of Trident II missiles held in the United States.

> They said that a US administration could put restrictions on kit from the US and that if countries are “deemed not to be doing what you are told you will suddenly find out missiles won’t fire and planes won’t fly. You have got to be careful.”

> The source said: “This is the transactional side of Trump.”

It would be pretty stupid for the UK to actually reduce reliance on US equipment. This just sounds like someone manufacturing a story for clicks.

You underestimate how childish Trump is.

Worse than childish. Owned by the enemy.

This sounds like a tactic to scare the UK into making concessions in broader negotiations. Seems like a typical Trump tactic.

The way the British government has been courting the US and especially the new US administration so far out of weakness/isolation this is likely to work.

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