Can we clarify Germany’s control of the 19 Leopard tanks? The news mentions contracts with NATO countries.
Do you think the German company’s control extends to bricking the software? Perhaps block software updates and repairs to equipment? It may not be possible to give Ukraine tanks without permission.
I know changing a module in a car can be a major PITA. The mechanic has to create a account, buy a single use key and then go through a extensive procedure. Its verifying the module is authentic and configuring and registering it for that VIN.
Imagine doing that in a war. Modules will break much faster than the armour they control.
The contracts that a country signs to obtain weapons from German manufacturers or German military stocks requires them to request a re-export license from the federal government should they wish to send such weapons to another country. (The United States has similar requirements, as do other countries, like Switzerland.)
Y’know, all this business about washing machines reminds me of FDR’s New Deal. One big part of that was rural electrification, which enabled homes to have washing machines. And a bunch of other conveniences, but the washing machine was the one that really got peoples’ attention. It’s a lot of work to wash clothes by hand, and so the washing machine became a symbol of the New Deal, in general, among FDR’s supporters.
Now, Russia has electricity, of course, and has had it for a long time. But I wonder if the appliances to use that electricity have been lacking. Washing machines seem boring and pedestrian, to us, but that’s just because we’ve all grown up with them, and never known a time without them. But in a nation where they’re scarce? Yeah, I can easily see them being a high-status, high-demand item.
I know in the past, in the USSR, something like a washing machine tended to be less common than in the US. And if I recall in Servant of the People in one episode there was an attempted bribe in the form of a washing machine. So… sure, it used to be a high status item, and might still be to some extent in the USSR and some former USSR nations.
Would it not be an advantage to be able to remotely disable a piece of equipment in time of war? If it were to fall into enemy hands, for example.
In the civilian world, there is a tendency for equipment manufacturers to ship hardware and then only switch on the features that match your subscription payments. This business model is pervasive in the computing world….and so is the business of jail breaking such devices by reprogramming the firmware. I believe the auto industry is like that as well.
However, I suspect the German tank issue is more to do with politics. Germany is an economic big cheese in Europe and has a lot of leverage over smaller economies. It is anxious to avoid escalation as, indeed, is the US. Solidarity is important within NATO and this is not the only area of disagreement.
I think that Poland is calling Germany’s bluff here, and I think they’re going to be successful. If Poland does go ahead and ship those tanks off to Ukraine, and then Germany raises a stink about it, it’ll look like Germany is supporting Russia. If Poland ships the tanks without Germany’s approval, and then Germany says nothing, then Germany looks weak. The only way for Germany to avoid some seriously bad optics is to approve the transfer quickly, before Poland has a chance to make the transfer anyway.
But I don’t have great confidence in any military doing it right, and even if they did, I don’t have great confidence that the decision-makers would have great confidence.
I was ruminating along the same lines. Before there were washing machines, washing clothes was likely the single biggest home labour. There was a reason it was called « washing day ». Cleaning the household’s clothing took an entire day of labour. A washing machine truly was a « labour-saving device ».
Dishwashers are handy, but as between the laundry washer breaking down, and the dishwasher, I would pick the dishwasher, every time.
(Having lived through the hell of a broken washing machine in 2019 and the broken dishwasher in 2020…)
The Pope was ridiculed a lot for this comment back in the day, but he was partially correct.
Anyhow, getting back to the topic, I would like to see America donate Abrams just to see the look on Scholz’s face when he has no more excuses to make.
I read this immediately after the comments about the washing machines and was thinking, “Y’know, as much as I would love to spite the Russians, I wouldn’t begrudge them the use of the Whirlpool FWEB10501 if they really wanted it that badly…”
With regard to the German Tanks issue, I suspect enforcement of those export license agreements mostly comes down to Germany never selling you another tank if you do it without permission.
So, yeah, Canuckistan could buy a lot of tanks, and then sell them on to a third party, but those would be the last tanks we ever buy from them.
Modules will break much faster than the armour they control.