Re:To Make More Stingers, US Needs to Revive Production Tech...
by anigbrowl on Saturday July 01, 2023 @12:52PM
(#36552073)
Weird edge case? Nonsense, proxy wars are the norm. Just because Stingers aren't a critical part of the US military doesn't mean you throw away the documentation and specification. Any military procurement should include reference material on the entire manufacturing pipeline as part of the deliverables - the manufacturer can keep the rights but military assets are too important to risk permanent loss.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:To Make More Stingers, US Needs to Revive Production Tech...
by LorenPechtel on Saturday July 01, 2023 @01:03PM
(#36552186)
Yup, all documentation and tooling should be retained except when specifically ordered otherwise by the DOD. (I'm thinking of the F-14 where they deliberately destroyed the ability to maintain them when they were retired because they wanted to ensure Iran couldn't maintain theirs.)
Re:To Make More Stingers, US Needs to Revive Production Tech...
by greedo on Saturday July 01, 2023 @04:12PM
(#36554606)
The article doesn't say anything about the documentations and specs being destroyed, just that the tooling etc will need to be dusted off and new workers trained. The biggest issue is legacy chips and electronics that are no longer made. These will need to be replaced and the Stinger basically redesigned with a new seeker head.
Keeping this production line hot would be extremely expensive, and since none of our allies were buying any and the US military expects to have air superiority/supremacy in any conflict they fight, this is a tempest in a teapot.