Picture my disappointment as I realized that, for all the pizzazz of "Superman Returns," its global weapon of choice would not be terrorism, or nuclear piracy, or dirty bombs.
Better protective gear saved many lives during a conflict that introduced a global weapon of choice - the improvised explosive device.
The United States once again dominated global weapons sales, signing deals worth $12.4 billion in 2004, or 33.5percentt of all contracts worldwide.
Although politics is bound to temper some companies' enthusiasm for international link-ups, Mr Mulally is surely right to predict more global weapons projects that bind countries together.
In the five years to 2013 it accounted for 47% of global weapons imports, up from 40% in 2004-08.America, naturally, wants to maintain the status quo.
Like the fence between the United States and Mexico, this system, known as Eurosur, is a dream of security hard-liners and the global weapons industry.
Russia was third last year in global weapons sales, recording $3.5 billion, just behind Italy, with $3.7 billion, according to a recently released Congressional study.
As a result, 200 Marines in Guatemala, almost 78% of global weapons sales, drones flying surveillance from Australia – no one here notices; no one here cares.
After all, cornering close to 80% of the arms market would mean that the global weapons bazaar had essentially been converted into a monopoly operation.
The Stockholm institute released a report this year on global weapons transfers that found the volume of Chinese conventional weapons exports — which included high-end aircraft, missiles, ships and artillery — jumped by 162 percent from 2008 to 2012, compared with the previous five years.
The global weapons market is estimated to be worth $55bn, and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs states that the "trade in conventional weapons – from warships and battle tanks to fighter jets and machine guns – remains poorly regulated.
