On Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:19:40 -0700 (PDT), rangerssuck
wrote:

On Jul 12, 5:44*pm, "Michael A. Terrell"
wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:

So, our space program now depends on the Ruskies. Just like
our weapons depend on the Chicoms? Or, at least some of the
circuit boards are made in Communist China.

* *Really? *Why did Lockheed Martin lease a building from us to
manufacture blank PC boards? A few years later it was consolidated with
another facility in Texas, when the lease ran out.

--
It's easy to think outside the box, when you have a cutting torch.

A) If Stormin hadn't posted that, he wouldn't have had the opportunity
to use cool words like "Ruskies" and "Chicoms."

B) It wouldn't surprise me to learn that some of our weapons include
boards made in China as part of the COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf)
program.

The penalties for exporting US space technology (and other stuff on
the USML) without a license are pretty extreme. It's a bonanza for
European and Asian companies, though, who would otherwise have FAR
less market share than they are now achieving. There are still
safeguards, of course, but not as extreme as ITAR. Compliance is the
only option, of course, but the system is arguably broken.

"Failure to comply with ITAR can result in civil fines as high as
$500,000 per violation, while criminal penalties include fines of up
to $1,000,000 and 10 years imprisonment per violation. Under EAR,
maximum civil fines can reach $250,000 per violation, while criminal
penalties can be as high as $1,000,000 and 20 years imprisonment per
violation."

-- sp (D.O. for a corporation)