In article ,
phil hunt wrote:
On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 04:15:51 GMT, Kevin Brooks wrote:

Then one wonders why those very same nations usually end up trying to buy
the products produced by those "slow-moving, bloated" western defense
contractors.

Because they are more technologically advanced. Some technologies,
for example high performance jet engines, require a large industrial
base to make. The sort of technologies I'm talking about are ones
that can potentially be produced a lot more cheaply, for example by
adapting mass-produced (but nevertheless highly sophisticated)
consumer products. Any medium-sized power should be able to produce
embedded computer control systems.

I do not know about anti-ship missiles, or anti-aircraft missiles, but an
anti-vehicle (except tank) missile that combines a portable TV, a
pen sized camera, two diode laser TXRX sets, an RC aircraft on steroids, and
a six mile spool of optical fibre should be possible. While hardly a threat
to tanks, if they were all available in Iraq, coalition casualties might have
unpalatable numbers. The users lofts it over the hard cover that he is hiding
behind and uses its camera to find a target and then dives the missile into
it. Probably only a few thousand dollars worth of parts.