In message , Kevin Brooks
writes
You are growing increasingly paranoid, Arndt. Let's see-- the Baretta M9,
the M249 SAW, the H&K Special Opns pistol...

Don't forget the M240, both main guns for the M1 tank, the HUDs and
ejection seats in a lot of US military aircraft... oh, why bother, he's
not listening anyway (even if the second tank gun *was* German)

yep, it appears the US is quite
willing to buy foreign weapons when they are the best of the bunch offered
for a requirement.

Having tried to sell into the US, there's a significant skew towards
domestic product, but it can be overcome if the competition is good
enough: and you get a second chance if the domestic offering
subsequently falls over. (Archerfish and M240 are examples). That's just
life.

Just as we are happy to buy US made weapons/systems when
they are the best available--and BTW, how many kills has your "greatest"
German MBT racked up? None? How many times has it been exposed to hostile
fire in a combat envoronment and survived? Never? Gosh, it sure is easy to
declare it the "greatest" when it spends all of its time on the parade
ground or in the motor pool, huh?

I'm sure he can run off a long list of reasons why the LeoII (by all
accounts a solid and effective tank) is incredibly superior to both the
M1 and Challenger families.

Trouble is, the Abrams and Challenger have gained combat experience
during their development and more combat since... the LeoII has yet to
be tested, and there's nothing like sitting out of a fight to enhance a
reputation. "Oh, *our* tank would never have that problem!" No, it
wouldn't, it would discover an entirely new and interesting set of
troubles instead - but until you actually put it to the test you don't
know.

Is the M1A2 better than CR2 and where does a current Leopard 2 sit? All
three are damn good vehicles, with different design priorities, which
get you different results: but only two have been used in combat. The
third has yet to be fully tested.


--
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
W S Churchill

Paul J. Adam MainBoxatjrwlynch[dot]demon{dot}co(.)uk