Re: Limits of technology

From: <ShldWulf@aol.com>

> > One problem that the USA suffers is the NIH syndrome

> National pride does quite well overcoming inconvenient things like
facts
> quite readily :o)

I've also come across (many, many times) a phenomenon identified by
Oerjan: If it works well, then obviously it must be of US origin.

e.g. AT-4, AV-8A, Nulka and many, many Israeli weapons. It can be
slightly
amusing to have a piece of kit you've worked on, and now being
manufactured
(actually just being assembled) in the USA, described as "American
Know-how".
And it can be darned frustrating when some US security weenie blocks
export of far-too-advanced-for-foreigners-even-allies technology when
bits
are supposed to be sent back here to the manufacturer for inspection and
repair.

OTOH... the US taxpayer gets good value from various arms of the US
government. Billions of dollars of 2nd-rate US-originated stuff gets
sold overseas despite adverse evaluations (compared with European
competitors) due entirely to state department pressure.

"Put simply, the Boeing system being installed cannot be transformed to
an
effective performance level without much of the software and some of the
hardware being replaced or superceded."

See http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/s328290.htm and
http://old.smh.com.au/news/0107/13/national/national7.html
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/s328295.htm

or just google search with the words "submarine Collins STN"

To see the difference in technology, just compare the Pictures:
Current Collins (advanced, but doesn't work too well)
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/collins/collins9.html
vs
Current Israeli. Also German, Swedish (Sonar), Chile (Sonar),
Italy, Greece, Turkey....
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/dolphin/dolphin3.html
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/type_212/type_2123.html
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/type_212/type_2124.html
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/scorpene/scorpene6.html
The Swedish boat has a (Swedish) Combat System - but if you look
carefully at the consoles towards the back, you'll see the sonar
is, in fact, a cut-down ISUS system
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/gotland/gotland4.html

Then there's the latest from the US....
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/seawolf/seawolf6.html
And Russia
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/kilo877/kilo8777.html
And the UK
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/vanguard/vanguard7.html
http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/vanguard/vanguard8.html