5 ms·

Would it be possible to import into the US?

by iguana 12y ago

hydrogen18 12y ago
From the perspective of the US it would be incredibly easy. The US is very lax about what you can import in terms of military hardware. Once something is actually inside the border it can be difficult if not to remove from the country. There have been cases where non-functional mockups have been held after military trade shows. The problem you are likely to encounter are: where the country of origin will allow it to go and what countries will allow it to transit their borders. For older military hardware like this unless you declare you are planning to import into some war-torn region of Africa there is unlikely to be any problems exiting the country with it. You might have to pay someone a small bribe if you're in a corrupt country. As far as transiting other countries, it is basically a nightmare. You can't just carry military hardware across other countries. The only reason the US can move its hardware through other countries is because of defense agreements, etc. It'd be far easier but financially impractical to just airlift the thing out. If you could get it to a port and cram it into a shipping container that'd be ideal, but then you have to find a carrier that will carry military hardware. I can't imagine many carriers would be happy about that fact. If you could find one, you'd basically wait 2-6 months and then pick up your stuff at a port somewhere in the US.
- driverdan 12y ago
  It might be easy to get it into the US but being able to drive it on the road is a completely different story. It is not easy to import vehicles legally register them.
letstryagain 12y ago
I think you can own a howitzer in the USA if you want
- rtkwe 12y ago
  You can own basically anything given enough forms and legal wrangling.
  - fludlight 12y ago
    Two or three of the tanks in the Littlefield auction had functional main guns. You needed a special ATF license for "destructive devices"(?) to take delivery. Getting said license is probably non-trivial, but very much possible for law abiding citizens.
- jschwartzi 12y ago
  I think that's because it's really hard to rob a bank with a howitzer.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
Yes, Jacques Littlefield did it all the time when he was building the tank collection, however there are constraints. And one of them, especially for combat vehicles is that they are 'demilitarized' which generally involves some damage that would render them unfit to use in a fight. As I recall one of their tanks had the barrel cut off and then re-welded back on with a slight offset. Any attempt to fire it with a shell would cause the barrel to explode in a backfire. However some black powder and wadding was OK which gave a satisfying 'boom!' and smoke.

Would it be possible to import into the US?

by iguana 12y ago

Would it be possible to import into the US?

From the perspective of the US it would be incredibly easy. The US is very lax about what you can import in terms of military hardware. Once something is actually inside the border it can be difficult if not to remove from the country. There have been cases where non-functional mockups have been held after military trade shows. The problem you are likely to encounter are: where the country of origin will allow it to go and what countries will allow it to transit their borders. For older military hardware like this unless you declare you are planning to import into some war-torn region of Africa there is unlikely to be any problems exiting the country with it. You might have to pay someone a small bribe if you're in a corrupt country. As far as transiting other countries, it is basically a nightmare. You can't just carry military hardware across other countries. The only reason the US can move its hardware through other countries is because of defense agreements, etc. It'd be far easier but financially impractical to just airlift the thing out. If you could get it to a port and cram it into a shipping container that'd be ideal, but then you have to find a carrier that will carry military hardware. I can't imagine many carriers would be happy about that fact. If you could find one, you'd basically wait 2-6 months and then pick up your stuff at a port somewhere in the US.

driverdan 12y ago
It might be easy to get it into the US but being able to drive it on the road is a completely different story. It is not easy to import vehicles legally register them.

letstryagain 12y ago

I think you can own a howitzer in the USA if you want

rtkwe 12y ago
You can own basically anything given enough forms and legal wrangling.
- fludlight 12y ago
  Two or three of the tanks in the Littlefield auction had functional main guns. You needed a special ATF license for "destructive devices"(?) to take delivery. Getting said license is probably non-trivial, but very much possible for law abiding citizens.
jschwartzi 12y ago
I think that's because it's really hard to rob a bank with a howitzer.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

Yes, Jacques Littlefield did it all the time when he was building the tank collection, however there are constraints. And one of them, especially for combat vehicles is that they are 'demilitarized' which generally involves some damage that would render them unfit to use in a fight. As I recall one of their tanks had the barrel cut off and then re-welded back on with a slight offset. Any attempt to fire it with a shell would cause the barrel to explode in a backfire. However some black powder and wadding was OK which gave a satisfying 'boom!' and smoke.