Can I buy them, create a market for them, sell futures on their usage, and ultimately sell the overloaded financial instruments to the lizard overlords?
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I guess that would qualify as ‘open carry’.
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According to ITAR rules, the plane itself is an “armament”, even in the absence of any 'splodies. Which makes these kinds of sales all the more baffling.
But, even given ITAR, it’s still possible to get your hands on some shinies.
(Clarkson remains a knob, even though I did enjoy that skit)
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Unless the aircraft are used for an approved civil research and development (R&D) project, former military aircraft owners/operators must permanently demilitarize their aircraft before FAA certification. Safe operation of guns, cannons, targeting radars, electronic jammers, jettisonable stores, or explosive devices are not feasible under nonapproved R&D experimental purposes.
You can own the armaments (ATF can let you). FAA won’t let you install it though, unless it’s for R&D. In which case you have to be part of the military-industrial complex.
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One of the reasons that the US needs to constantly innovate its air war fleet is because it depends on selling older models to other countries. We have to continually beat our own success, in addition to whatever else is happening out there in the world. Why do we need F35s? Because so many of our potential enemies have our old F16s.
(not a military aircraft specialist, that particular model comparison may or may not make sense but the concept is true.)
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They don’t need jet fighters to do that, regular old fighters have proven more than good enough.
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I’m not 'Murrican, so I wouldn’t be importing it to the USA. I would however file a flight plan with a foreign civilian registration and fly to visit family there. “I’m not importing it, I’m flying it back out of the country when I go home after the holidays.”
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In terms of defensibility the fact that ITAR covers exports and transfers to non-US persons; not possession in itself (though possessing neat stuff presumably gets you the scrutiny afforded to someone who is one fedex pickup away from an illicit transfer) probably helps a lot.
Even fairly broad readings of the second amendment don’t generally place it above the state’s right to regulate international commerce or conduct foreign policy.
You’d have a much more plausible challenge if someone decided to use ‘could be an ITAR violation if sold abroad’ concern to effectively criminalize purely domestic possession of something, absent any indication of intent to export, without maintaining at least a veneer of plausibility about what their real objective is; but if that has come up I’m not familiar with the case.
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Aryan Brotherhood Luftwaffe, most likely. They could get a gov subsidy from Tubby (a TubSub) for their seed money.
Legally.
/9char
That’s exactly the sort of thing that ITAR prohibits. The US keeps pretty tight reins on this technology. The company that owns them absolutely would not sell them to a foreign national unless they had State Department approval.
This one came from Jordan and is 4sale in Florida:
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Have you read the article linked above? This is about that Jet and several others. No, a civilian cannot buy them.
That would depend somewhat on the definition of “civilian”.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like, say Eric Prince, could.
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If they can’t buy them maybe the US can buy them back considering how much of a mess the f-35 program has been. >:3
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Eric Prince personally? No. Blackwater/Xe/Academi, possibly. Prince himself I don’t believe is associated with what remains of Blackwater or its successors as of about ten years ago though. His current organization is supporting China’s “one belt” initiative. So I believe that the State department would likely block him purchasing them.
Re ITAR - coincidentally just noticed this on a magazine wrapper. I think anything with an official DOD code (i.e. can be ordered directly by the military) falls under ITAR automatically. So just don’t send or buy this stuff overseas, buy from an importer with the proper licensees.
Some idiot is in talks to buy the Royals for a billion dollars. He could buy his own Thunderbirds aerobatics team for half that.
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Harry Turtle dove nods approvingly
You can always build your own fighter and shot down nazi airplanes or american bombers…
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