In 2005, according to a special report by Reuters, it’s being reported that Thailand offered 80,000 frozen chickens as payment for F16 fighter jets from US aerospace manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. You would think that a $3 million killing machine would warrant a complex financial deal with checks and balances etc but it turns out that these flying death from above machines are exchangeable in frozen food.

The astonishing thing was that Lockheed Martin were “reticent to engage” and that the only thing it seems that held the deal back was the lack of funding and the coup of the Thai government. According to the US embassy at the time:

[note_box]Embassy contacts said that until Lockheed Martin offered a proposal to sell F-16s that included countertrade, the (Thai government) could not seriously consider its offer. Contacts also suggested that an offer that included an agreement to buy Thai chicken would be especially welcome.[/note_box]

Fascinating what goes on behind the closed doors of the arms trade.