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| Utah men try to illegally export F-14 parts, presumably to Iran |
| 2007-10-08 |
| Two Utah men are accused of trying to illegally export surplus pieces of F-14 fighter jets, a plane that is flown only in Iran. Abraham Trujillo, 61, and David Waye, 22, both of Ogden, are alleged to have tried exporting the parts to Canada, but the charges don't specify how they supposedly got the parts and don't list all buyers. Trujillo and Waye were charged Friday with three counts each of attempting to export a defense article without a license. Penalties can carry 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine per count. The U.S. attorney's office says federal immigration agents discovered a Web site with listings of F-14 parts offered by Trujillo and his Ogden business, NSN Specialists. Over several months in 2006 and 2007, agents bought cable assemblies and other F-14 and F-4 jet items from Trujillo. The U.S. sold the F-14 to Iran in the 1970s when it was under the rule of the Western-friendly shah. In 1979, the shah was deposed, and the U.S. eventually banned the sale of military equipment to Iran. Iran, trying to maintain its F-14s, is aggressively seeking components from the retired U.S. Tomcat fleet. Members of Congress have expressed concerns about the Department of Defense selling surplus F-14 parts because they're worried they could wind up in Iranian aircraft. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #7 Glenmore has my vote. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2007-10-08 18:59 |
| #6 Do we even know if these cables still conduct electricity? I can think of a way to find out. Good snark, NS. I say test to catastrophic failure with a few megavolts. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-10-08 18:26 |
| #5 The US has a great chance to outfit dozens of its old F-14's as cruise missiles, strap in some of the many Iranian operatives we've captured in Iraq, and send them to bomb their own mullahs, and post the "martyrdom" videos on the internet at the same time. Talk about plausible deniability. |
| Posted by: Daffy Hupavish2995 2007-10-08 17:46 |
| #4 Do we even know if these cables still conduct electricity? I can think of a way to find out. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-10-08 17:21 |
| #3 Nice idea, Glenmore, but the lawyers veto it every time. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-10-08 16:58 |
| #2 Oh, for some creative counter-espionage ops. How about we take some of those cables and subject them to certain conditions to invisibly degrade their capability - hydrogen embrittlement comes to mind, but there are others. Then let them enter the world of black market arms deals. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-10-08 16:34 |
| #1 Here's an idea. How about hanging them using those cable assemblies they were trying to sell as the nooses? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-10-08 16:10 |