On Wed, 10 Sep 2003 21:05:49 GMT, tim gueguen wrote:

"Hobo" wrote in message
...

If a country had zero interest in offensive actions and was only
interested in defense, would putting money into military aircraft
instead of a SAM system make any sense?

Of course. A SAM has only one use, namely shooting things down. A combat
aircraft can for example intercept an unidentified aircraft, and execute a
range of options depending on what it encounters.

That's a good point. Of course, a relatively cheap aircraft, e.g. an
advanced jet trainer such as the Hawk, fitted with a few missiles,
would be adequate to investigate (and possibly) destroy any civilian
aircraft intruder.

If the intruder is a military aircraft, it can automatically be
assumed to be hostile and shot down without needing to inspect it
(unless it's a type the country's air force operates, in which case
it may just be a cock-up).

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