The Egyptian army’s weapons problem

Would you buy a missile from the United States?
By Christopher King

14 February 2011

Christopher King argues that there is a high probability that weapons supplied by the USA to Egypt, among others, contain trojans – hidden and malicious circuits in microchips or programs in software – that can be activated by the US or Israel at will to ensure that they will not work if used against Israel or other US protegé.

I notice that the Americans are talking about “helping” and “guiding” Egypt to democracy. I would have thought that the Egyptian people have demonstrated that they are perfectly capable of dispensing with help from the United States. It’s very doubtful that they look forward to more of the same.

The case of the Egyptian army is more complex. It has acted in its own interests as well as that of the country. It’s common knowledge that the peace treaty with Israel has given its senior officers the leisure to turn their attention to making serious money from going into independent business ventures. That is not an insuperable problem. Their best interests are served by selling up, taking their money and getting out of politics or becoming full-time businessmen. Their country’s best long-term interests lie in the economic development that democracy brings. It is to be hoped that they will see this and not delay.

This is where the United States has gone wrong. It should have followed its much-publicized ideals by fostering democracy in and giving economic aid to other countries rather than supporting dictators and exploiting their resources. All it has now is a military economy that is collapsing, and in other countries dubious stability rather than friends. Even in Britain the population is about to discover the cost of our stupid politicans’ attachment to the US and its policies rather than thinking for themselves.

But we are reflecting on Egypt. President Obama began manipulating, under cover of his vague public ramblings from the time the Tahrir Square demonstrations began to look serious, when he despatched Frank Wisner to tell Mubarak to hold on. The president has now caught up with reality. In his inimitable oratorial style he congratulates the Egyptian people on their achievement and talks warmly of democracy, freedom and maintaining the US-Egyptian relationship. He has clearly been assured by his advisers that since large numbers of Egyptian officers were trained in the US and they love the military toys that the US presents to them, they will come out on the side of the US in the end.


Is this true, however? Whatever military gear is given to Egypt, Israel gets twice as much. The generals have complained about the unfairness of this but I am sure that they are thinking of another problem with these weapons as well.

The problem with the shiny toys that the Egyptian army is playing with lies in the question: do they work? True, they fly, roll along or explode as the case may be, according to one’s expectations. They appear to work. The crunch test is: Will they work in a war with Israel?

Let’s think along with the generals. We know that the United States is committed to Israel. Nevertheless, it gives hi-tech weaponry to Egypt whose population sympathizes with the Palestinians, dislikes Israel and has fought several wars with it. The generals might be willing to compromise a little with Israel but at bottom they’re patriots, not traitors. One never knows what the future will bring. From an American perspective, why take a risk with a country that is actually hostile to its protegé and only maintains a peace treaty through bribery?

Now, all modern military equipment, radios, missiles, tanks, aircraft etc contain microchips, software or both. The solution to maintaining the security of its protegé, or indeed its own forces in the Middle East, is to install trojan (hidden and malicious) circuits in microchips or programming in software that can be activated by the US or Israel at will. These would have the function of disabling the item of equipment in some manner. It’s very difficult, if not impossible to reverse-engineer or analyse everything a complex microchip or program can do, particularly if certain functions are designed to stay hidden.

The British military had problems in getting information from the US on the programming of its Trident strategic nuclear missiles which has both the missile and warhead firing system made in the US. I suspect that it was for this reason. Well, it’s logical. The US doesn’t want its weapons turned against it. That’s the way they think – cover all threats.

These are more than theoretical musings. In a close parallel case, during the 1982 Falklands war three British ships were severely damaged with high casualties from Argentinian aircraft and missiles supplied by its European Union neighbour and ally, France. The French then began marketing Exocet missiles as “battle tested” and the British were very unhappy. Nor had the British a chance to use their Exocets. Even thirty years ago the French supplied electronic information to enable the British to defeat Argentinian Exocets, but only after they had been used.

In 1987 during the Iran-Iraq war an Iraqi pilot attacked the frigate USS Stark with an Exocet, inflicting heavy damage and 37 deaths. I think that the Americans will have noticed this problem. This is why they hate the idea of Iran obtaining the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. They can’t control it and it will actually do what it’s supposed to. You can see why they push their weaponry to NATO and any country that’ll grab the shiny, easy option rather than developing its own defence industries. It’s not just to boost jobs in the US. The Israelis worked this out years ago.

Egyptian generals are probably wondering not only whether their present equipment works as they expect but also, given the demonstrated awkwardness of Egypt’s population, will future gifted gadgets work in a brawl? The last thing an Egyptian pilot wants when he’s serious is his aircraft and missiles taking on minds of their own or his radio playing Cairo’s top tunes.

Now that I think of it, the US is selling its hardware at great cost to the Saudis, Iraqis and other Gulf countries. Perhaps it gives guarantee certificates that this stuff will work if they want to back their friends against Israeli attack, or it will refund the cost?

If the United States doesn’t trust the British despite the traitorous prostrations of Anthony Blair and the current sorry lot who are little better, will they trust despotic governments with Muslim populations that they consider to be just waiting for an Islamo-fascist mullah to stage a revolution? It’s a fact that no-one in the Middle East likes the United States – even people who take its bribes. Particularly them, perhaps.

So what’s a serious general to do? Accept a gift of sparkling gear that turns out to be junk when needed or shop around?

Hezbollah, the Pashtun and Vietcong have all demonstrated that simple equipment can do wonders. It’s a matter of training and commitment. Better a rifle that works than a fancy F-16 jet that doesn’t.

Perhaps the US can convince its customers that its clever gear will kill Israelis, Americans or anyone else that it’s pointed at just as effectively as it will the people they happen to dislike at the moment. That’s what a rifle does and if it were my 40 billion dollars that I recall the Saudis are spending, that’s the test I would want my purchases to pass. How, I don’t know. It’s not my problem but unless the stuff will perform in all circumstances it isn’t very good value.

Egyptian generals will do as they wish of course, but if I were one I wouldn’t buy an American missile or even accept one as a gift.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian