Quote:
Originally posted by NY Madman:
The reality is such an attack would most likely come from a Russian made SA-7 or SA-18 shoulder launched surface to air missile.... or a Chinese made system.

Shoulder launched SAM's (Surface-to-air-missiles) are known as MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense Systems).

There is a relatively small amount of American made Stingers unaccounted for on the black market. It is believed to be less than 500 and most would no longer be operational. We only gave the Afghans 400 of them in the 80's and most of those are probably no longer operational.

European allies were also given the technical specs for the Stinger many years ago and produced their own versions. (Even the Swiss have a version out there)

There are however literally tens of thousands of MANPADS made by other countries (about 150,000 unaccounted for). Most are the Russian made MANPADS. The rest are mostly French and Chinese made units and a few are even British and Swiss.

Any American made Stingers out there in circulation are also very expensive on the black market. An SA-7 can be obtained much more cheaply. Would a terrorist prefer the American made model if operational... maybe ... but they could buy a handful of SA-7's for the price of a single Stinger. In both cases they are taking a chance whether the units would work at all.

So the odds are very low that an American made Stinger would be used. Most likely a Russian or Chinese made weapon. The communist Chinese (America's largest and strangely never discussed enemy) are selling tons of weapons all over the place and mostly to America's other enemies. Also the newer Chinese QW-2 MANPADS are supposed to be superior to Stingers. (The newest QW-4 in development should be in terrorist hands in the near future.... maybe in time for Ramadan)
All of this is true. The Russians and the Chinese supply the world with weapons. We have done it in the past. The Russians were supplying Iraq up until the start of the war. They also supply Pakistan. The only country that we outright supply is Israel. We are very careful and attentive with our weapons. I work in Naval Intelligence, so I know these statements to be true.
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Schleprock, Schleprock...stronger than steel!