There are sometimes operational difficulties in 'forcing' the owner of a nuclear armed carrier battlefleet to obey anything.

It's even worse than trying to force a teenager to tidy their room!

I have to agree with the general principle of this. Hanging on my sister's kitchen wall is a tea-towel printed with a record of a delightful conversation between US and Canadian forces. They each insist the other should divert course. The US forces describe what they are - a carrier group, and again insist that the Canadian forces divert course. The Canadian forces simply reply, "This is a lighthouse." ;)

With all that said, I don't think it applies to licenses at all. Licenses are paperwork. Do I need to say more?

It isn't about the armed forces themselves, as they rarely make their own arms. Most weapons companies are publicly traded corporations.