4 ms·

That seems to imply that there is a price at which they WILL sell one to a civilian, though.

tialaramex 3y ago
Sure, civilians own all sorts of obsolete and de-commissioned military gear. Small arms obviously, but also tanks and planes. If you've got loads of obsolete tanks, of which some are kinda sorta working, others are mostly useful only as spares and your mission is to turn that into money but without harming national security, selling say half a dozen of them to a movie props company, makes lot of sense. Deactivate the main weapon, remove auxiliary weapons, strip out any sensitive materials from the interior, and it still looks like a tank on screen, but it's not a real threat because it's deactivated. They can use it to shoot war movies, as background for politics movies, &c. Serious adversaries don't need obsolete tanks. If you're Russia, a working 1970s tank is of no value to you. Russia have perfectly good tanks newer than that, and their crews were already trained on them. However you don't want some minor power or non-government entity to buy these and re-arm them somewhere that can't defend itself, you don't want your obsolete tanks to show up in a guerilla war in South America, so you can guarantee that with "Not for export" type paperwork.
- jstarfish 3y ago
  There's a place in Vegas where you can drive one around and crush scrapped cars. There was also a police-footage show with an episode about a guy who built a DIY tank-- a bulldozer with a bunch of cement slabs mounted to it. He terrorized a neighborhood on his way to demolish city hall over some grievance, beached it, and shot himself while police tried to breach it.
  - hiatus 3y ago
    There was no way out for him but a bullet to the head or breach—he welded himself in. https://youtu.be/w7QG1w3ixkM?si=6afvV_acZbfqdkKz https://youtu.be/w7QG1w3ixkM?si=6afvV_acZbfqdkKz
  - TheCleric 3y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
- euroderf 3y ago
  If you want something you can drive around your neighborhood, you want an armored car with rubber tires (not metal treads, not rubber treads). For instance, the UK's M8 Greyhound.
- Boogie_Man 3y ago
  I've wanted a mortar and mortar munitions for as long as I can remember, but you can't own army surplus as it's a "destructive device" which is bullshit if I've ever heard it.

Sure, civilians own all sorts of obsolete and de-commissioned military gear. Small arms obviously, but also tanks and planes. If you've got loads of obsolete tanks, of which some are kinda sorta working, others are mostly useful only as spares and your mission is to turn that into money but without harming national security, selling say half a dozen of them to a movie props company, makes lot of sense. Deactivate the main weapon, remove auxiliary weapons, strip out any sensitive materials from the interior, and it still looks like a tank on screen, but it's not a real threat because it's deactivated. They can use it to shoot war movies, as background for politics movies, &c. Serious adversaries don't need obsolete tanks. If you're Russia, a working 1970s tank is of no value to you. Russia have perfectly good tanks newer than that, and their crews were already trained on them. However you don't want some minor power or non-government entity to buy these and re-arm them somewhere that can't defend itself, you don't want your obsolete tanks to show up in a guerilla war in South America, so you can guarantee that with "Not for export" type paperwork.

jstarfish 3y ago
There's a place in Vegas where you can drive one around and crush scrapped cars. There was also a police-footage show with an episode about a guy who built a DIY tank-- a bulldozer with a bunch of cement slabs mounted to it. He terrorized a neighborhood on his way to demolish city hall over some grievance, beached it, and shot himself while police tried to breach it.
- hiatus 3y ago
  There was no way out for him but a bullet to the head or breach—he welded himself in. https://youtu.be/w7QG1w3ixkM?si=6afvV_acZbfqdkKz https://youtu.be/w7QG1w3ixkM?si=6afvV_acZbfqdkKz
- TheCleric 3y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Heemeyer
euroderf 3y ago
If you want something you can drive around your neighborhood, you want an armored car with rubber tires (not metal treads, not rubber treads). For instance, the UK's M8 Greyhound.
Boogie_Man 3y ago
I've wanted a mortar and mortar munitions for as long as I can remember, but you can't own army surplus as it's a "destructive device" which is bullshit if I've ever heard it.