Posted on 08/03/2006 11:47:46 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Without so much as a single public hearing, the Senate has adopted a bill that could radically weaken our national defense. Obscure language slipped into legislation on the Senate floor would effectively enable outsourcing to Russia the production of titanium, a strong but lightweight metal that is critical for America's military hardware -- aircraft, armored vehicles and other defense systems.
Alarmingly, the provision would enable America's ability to produce defense-grade titanium to be handed over to a single company in Russia. What's worse, the Russian government is attempting to take over the company, named VSMPO.
In other words -- and this, unfortunately, is not an exaggeration -- the Senate action could lead to a situation where the Defense Department could not build jet fighters or bombers without the Kremlin's permission. Will Russian President Vladimir Putin and his successors always agree to sell Defense the titanium it needs? Who knows? Even if the United States got its orders filled, the Kremlin would have information on every detail of the grade and quantity of titanium that the Pentagon wants to buy, and good intelligence on what weapons systems the U.S. is building. ...
Current law requires that certain critical materials used in Defense contracts -- like titanium and other important specialty metals -- must be produced in the United States. These provisions on specialty metals were adopted into law decades ago and have worked as intended, providing the United States with a reliable source of domestic titanium and other specialty metals for military applications. ...
The American titanium industry is too important to our national security to be replaced as a supplier to the Defense Department by a company targeted for takeover by the Russian government.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Now 2/3s of titanium production is used in the golf industry;)
Mike
I guess we'll be able to kill Talibangers by clubbing them over the head with Big Berthas...
Around 1900 every nation was jealosly promoting and protecting their steel industries in the name of national defense. Many argue (though I, personally, do not hold this view) that this lead to over-building of various steel-intensive munitions in order to provide business to the over built industries.
I guess the same could be said of Titanium today.
heavy metal ping!
Sounds like fun, but we can use the leftovers to meltdown into less personal weapons.
There was a time in the 1960s when US Steel had most of the parking places in Duluth-Superior stacked with old, decrepit ore carriers. The US government paid USS to keep them in reserve. Every one of them was scrapped in the 1980s. I have the bell from one of them.
C'mon, that would cost a million dollars a pound by the time you got it back to Earth. It's a preposterous idea.
You couldn't make mining on the moon pay for itself if the surface was covered in nuggets of gold.
-ccm
More giving up security to make a quick dollar.
We are shutting down NORAD.
WilliamSChips writes
"The United States military has announced that they are shutting down the facility at Cheyenne Mountain, home to the high-tech NORAD which tracks every object in the sky. NORAD's operations will be moved to the nearby Peterson Air Force base. The mountain facility is being placed on standby in case they need it again."
From the article:
"The Cheyenne Mountain center, at the eastern foot of the Rockies near the base of Pikes Peak, was constructed underground in the mid-1960s. Fearing nuclear attacks at the time, the United States built sites such as the Cheyenne Mountain complex. The Navy prepared a floating White House aboard the communications cruiser USS Northampton, in case the president needed to be evacuated from U.S. soil. Another protective bunker was created near White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., for members of Congress."
What the...!!!!
PS I would buy titanium stocks (in other companies) right away. Seeing how Russia is our enemy, it's only a matter of time before they start waving titanium over our heads, thus sending titanium sky high.
Messy, but effective. Give em a whack when they stick their heads out of their holes.
What's next, giving tourists flights in the F-22???
Excellent post. AS also did not advocate a nation blindly adhering to strict free market principles, especially in trade between countries, if a party or parties were not being faithful themselves.
In other words, Smith thought it foolish to cut one's laissez-faire nose off to spite a protectionist face.
If you have to ask that question, then there is no way I could explain the problem.
Does it not bother you that we do not produce a single weapon system in house?
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