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Stolen US Military Equipment Being Sold On eBay
I Buy These From eBay points out a Washington Post story about how stolen military equipment has ended up on eBay and Craigslist. Undercover investigators reported being able to purchase defense-related items with "no questions asked." Let's hope the sellers don't get their hands on any retired rebellious robots. From the Post:
"Among the items purchased include two components from F-14 fighter jets, bought from separate buyers on eBay. The warplanes, now retired by the military, could easily be purchased and transferred to the Iranian military, which is seeking its components, the report said. Investigators couldn't determine where the sellers had obtained the F-14 parts. They also purchased from a Craigslist seller a used Nuclear Biological Chemical protective suit, other protective accessories as well as an unused chemical-biological canister, which contained the mask filter used to guard against warfare agents. The property was likely stolen from the Defense Department, the report said."
Ebay policy prohibits sale of stolen items and parts of a F-14 are obviously stolen if on Ebay. So, consequence one will be removal of the auction. Consequence two is, that now Ebay has the IP-Adresses of those people and they properly will give it to the military. They better used Tor or live in a country far far away.
This behavior is IMHO incredibly stupid. If you manage to steal such items, one would think that you also manage to sell them somewhere else than on Ebay.
When the same guy kept driving off with a different Humvee each day with F-14 parts stuffed down his pants.
What's this called? (hint: fear mongering?) Why was the Iranian military mentioned in the article? Are Iranians the only ones out there that can possibly hurt the US? No, anyone can buy that stuff and damage other countries. The US isn't the only country on this planet. Please, for the sake of the future, stop acting like everyone is out to get you.
I'm sure that they could get the stolen parts back, don't Paypal have an excellent record for helping all sides in disputes?
Take Nobody's Word For It.
People have been selling military equipment from the US for years. Ever seen "Lord of War"? Not all of it was fiction you know. Probably the only surprise is that it was sold on ebay. And chances are that the military equipment wasn't stolen either. Many parts from scrapped vehicles are given or sold to boneyards to be sold again. Hell, the old motors from Vietnam's apache helicopters are actually in use on speedboats up to this day.
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The Register has their usual perspective-giving article up, for those of you who might be inclined to start screaming OMG TERRORISTS as the US Government no doubt wants you to.
Copy a single song recorded in 1950 and not heard on the radio for decades so that you can practice it on your guitar? WIth these new laws being proposed, you could owe the publisher millions in fines and fees.
Sell stolen US F-14 parts for profit to anyone, so that you can buy some crack? Misdemeanor.
"The property was likely stolen from the Defense Department, the report said."
Ok, probably the F-14 parts, but being ex-forces I myself have about 3 NBC suits and a box full of respirator canisters, amongst god knows what else, from clothes to tins, helmets, gortex. It's all just surplus you pick up during your time in. Half of it you can buy and any army surplus store/warehouse anyway.
Biomech
This is all FUD, I did a search on ebay and this is what I got:
;)
0 items found for: stolen military equipment
How do they expect us to believe an article if we can't verify the sources
How amazed would you be to suddenly find that you just forgot what I wrote and you needed to reread my post.... again.
Every soldier is issued an NBC suit (including mask and filters) and they are one of the first things to get lost on field deployments - not a major theft of some military secret equipment.
Turned out, the bordercontrol had arrested some guys who'd stolen some vehicles. Officially they weren't gone as they weren't reported missing.
Same with selling overstock; Every month a train came by bringing soldiers' cigarettes. They were picked up from the town and brought to base. At a certain point the soldier ordered to pick them up reported the shipment being picked up by "unknown" individuals. (so some Germans have been imposing as an army unit to pick up the shipment cigarettes). Since then my grandfather was put in charge for a new order, with the order to order 20% extra "just in case".
Instead of piling up the 20%, they devised a plan to sell it consistently through an external contractor and the profits where split. Until bordercontrol noticed an unusual high amount of soldiers going home for the weekend and they've searched some vehicles.
This is all post-WW erra with a bloathed army with paper reporting, but still. I can imagine there are still people trying to make a profit like this or the same logistic problems.
Oh yea, my grandfather went on trail for that and got away clean because they had to sign a statement they couldn't sell "their own" rations. He stated he didn't, he had sold overstock. After that he was put in charge of all logistics instead of his own regiment and the statement was adjusted.
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
Obviously stolen? the F-14 has been scrapped. they're in junkyards here and abroad. entire decommissioned aircraft like the Harrier have been sold on eBay, perfectly legal. There's a hobbyist market for the parts for all manner of aircraft too. You can buy decommissioned howitzers, tanks, jets...parks and VFWs have them. And uniforms and MRE, anyone can buy those, perfectly legal.
Yeah, but they take 20-30 years to assemble, and if you lose the special Allen key, you're fucked.
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Great F-14, kills infidels wonderfully. Allahu Ackbar! A++++++
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It mentions a couple of "components" from F14's - what? Nut and bolts or complete avionics - there's a huge difference. I would expect that if it had been anything significant, they wouldn't named them - so my money is on a few small pieces of easily machined metal.
The article then makes the subtle leap from talking about buying these F14 spares to say "The warplanes, now retired by the military, could easily be purchased and transferred to the Iranian military, which is seeking its".
Pardon me, but nowhere are they claiming to have actually *bought* the planes. They just seem to be sowing FUD in the readers mind.
It's a pity these guys couldn't find any journalistic integrity for sale on eBay - or maybe that's where theirs went.
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Hey! My name finally gets mentioned in /. !
I think the underlying point of your message though is that Iran is more than capable of buying jets from other military hardware producing nations. The trick is finding one that wouldn't mind selling them the stuff. Maybe the French?
Har?
I was in the army 15 years ago and the pawn shops around post were full of military equipment. Not just the stuff that soldiers are expected to buy for their job either. I remember soldiers who lost their NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) mask would go buy one at a pawn shop so they would have something to turn in when they PCS (Permanent Change of Station). However, I do not remember seeing any F-14 parts...
Exactly. Thanks for adding some reason to the discussion.
Quote from the Slashdot story: "The warplanes, now retired by the military, could easily be purchased and transferred to the Iranian military, which is seeking its components, the report said."
Why does Iran want F-14 parts? I'm guessing that is because the war industry in the U.S. sold the Iranian government F-14s, with the permission and the aid of the U.S. government. Presumably that happened when the Shah was in control. The Shah was a U.S. government puppet, installed in 1953 after the U.S. government destroyed the administration of the democratically elected President Mohammed Mossadegh". That's right, those who control the U.S. government were against democracy, for violence, for interference in the operation of other countries, and they put profit above all other issues.
Also, Iran is not the threat that is being presented to U.S. citizens. Those who control the U.S. government are trying to demonize Iran the way they demonized Iraq. They want a war, and the entire reason they want a war with Iran is the same as the reason they wanted war with Iraq: to make more money. Those who control the U.S. government have a sickness about money. They will do anything to get more money, even lie and kill other people.
At the beginning of the first U.S. government-Iraq war, U.S. weapons companies were still delivering weapons to Iraq, under a long-term contract. Those who control the U.S. government and weapons companies want war, continous war.
The U.S. government is the biggest promoter of violence in the world. Don't say "we" when talking about war. There is no "we", unless you are part of the group that makes the profits, while stealing from U.S. taxpayers.
If you love your wife, and she is having a difficult time, you don't turn your back on her. You get involved and try to help. It's the same with your country. If you love the U.S. like I do, you will help stop the violence.
I thought that that GM bought the automotive division from Saab and everything else remained.
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Heaps of guys in the hobby have built home sims using parts from real jets. F15s, F16s, A7Es etc. There *are* legitimate ways of getting hold of cockpit parts that aren't stolen. Since the F14 is no longer in service it would not be a stretch at all to find bits of a broken up one for sale. One guy got a whole F15 cockpit for his project. http://www.f15sim.com/index.html
He got it from the Olympia Air Museum. Prior to that it was PURCHASED from McChord AFB in Tacoma after being struck off the register. It was used for training battle damage repair.
Aircraft parts from wrecked, scraped airframes often legitimately come up for sale on Ebay, IMO this report / article is just a way to promote an agenda. Congress are probably planning some new bill defining everyone who possesses ex-military equipment a terrorist. I guess I'm a cynic.
The DoD spokesjerk says the kit was "likely stolen". These guys have been misplacing shit for years, and they have the audacity to assume some junk sold on the internet is stolen?
I saw an documentary on the war in Iraq. One segment focused on a particular base where various units would be stationed temporarily before being moved on to somewhere else. Any material or equipment that they didn't want to take with them at the end of their stay just got dumped because they didn't want to do the paperwork to return it to the quartermaster. It all just ended up being a big pile of junk in the middle of the desert, and there are apparently dozens of these across Iraq. You expect me to believe that no one just picks that stuff up takes it home?
If the Defense Department wants to stop this stuff being sold online, they should stop misplacing it in the first place. They have no one but themselves to blame.
What's next? A virus "could" come about that wipes out humanity? A company "could" decide that it will destroy humanity for profit? This could happen and that could happen is not news. It's not even speculation. It's just fud.
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The story is just alarmist garbage making sound like people are scoring RPGs or artillery pieces in back alleys. The stuff is the same surplus gas-masks, boots and canteens you've been able to buy since Moses was a boy. The "F-14 parts" are dashboard lightbulbs and tire-valve caps. Oooh a MILSPEC 3876783-4786478-3478647 instrument cable! wow!
Working in the aerospace field has exposed me to tons of interesting surplus. I have an F-14 canopy, various B-57 parts, and a ton of clothing and tools. A friend of mine owns a P-51 fighter that he keeps hangared at our local airport. It replaces another fighter from his collection, one of the last surviving F4F Wildcats that he sold to a museum. There are tons of Aero Vodochody fighter trainers flying around the US. And if you've ever flown in a Cessna Citation, that's technically a dual use aircraft; some eastern European countries have retrofitted Citations with missile pylons. Heck, the Learjet 25 was *designed* to be a fighter.
If you count foreign military surplus, all of my firearms are military surplus, including Mosin-Nagant rifles, a Nagant revolver, a Romanian AK-47, and Sig Sauer and Tokarev pistols.
There's a good story about a rich guy who bought a MiG-23 from Poland (I think) and had it imported. It would have been totally legal except for one problem: when the aircraft was pulled off the flightline, it wasn't disarmed. In the shipping crate, were armed air-to-air missiles, the Russian equivalent of a Sidewinders, and in the nose section the gun was still loaded and armed. US Customs took exception to this and confiscated the aircraft. Shortly thereafter it was given to the Air Force and is now on display at Wright Patterson AFB.
So, bottom line, is there are legal ways to own all kinds of military equipment.
When you add the eBay and PayPal fees, it's actually cheaper to develop this stuff from scratch.
While you are partially correct, you left out some important information.
Buying an F-14 airframe has been something thats been possible for years. You will however, not find an air ready F-14. They get stripped of many things, like avionics and turbines.
Without the avionics, the F-14 won't fly. You can hack together a lot of things to make it somewhat flight ready, hell you may be able to even get it in the air if worked hard enough. But what you put in the air, would in no way be a fighter jet other than its look.
While the airframe is an extremely important part of the aircraft, obviously, it is not everything and most of our ability to kick ass in the air comes from avionics and pilots.
Coming up with skilled pilots is for an F-14 is not easy, but far from impossible. Coming up with compariable avionics that have been designed and refined to make the F-14 (when thinking of the Top Gun aircraft) what it is, thats another story. Its not like the first attempt to make the F-14 an evil killing machine was perfect, the systems were refined continually and upgraded over the years.
Good luck buying those components. If you can get your hands on them, you're not dumb enough to eBay them, there are far more profitable people who would want to get their hands on such items.
I can't remember who it was, I'm sure someone else can chime in with it, but there was a band which had one of its members buy a tank to drive in England, perfectly legal ( the purchase, not the driving down the streets part ). But its not like the thing would fire a shell.
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