Well, Commander, the logistics of getting necessary war material from your potential enemies is just a reflection of the German/NATO et al ideology of our "allies" that has led us to this place. Obvious answer is that others make the necessary components whe ARE your allies - so switch to them. That they haven't or won't do this speaks more to the various assessments of NATO partners' will, intelligence (as in smarts), and commitment. Even after this lesson in Ukraine, and a lot of happy talk, they are reverting to the mean.
As to Raytheon, this is merely a question of supply and demand and their bottom line. Production management says produce at a steady rate that allows for a steady workforce and no surges in production over demand or inventory necessary to meet demand. If demand drops, especially after a surge, you have to fire people and maybe reduce price to get rid of inventory. Not being able to count on anything above the Congressional contract authorizations in each budget, they only produce weapons at that level with no surge capacity.
I would argue there are a LOT of empty industrial buildings out there that could be easily used - power and utilities already in place or easily adapted. Training the workforce? Yep, but could be done while retrofitting space - while it is rocket science writ large, installing each individual component on an assembly line isn't. Hopefully we haven't gotten ourselves to a place where, like the Germans in WWII, we can produce only a few high quality weapons at a low rate due to the need for scientists to put the weapons together. In short it is more a money/finance/contract issue than the capability....and Raytheon/Defense Contractors' unwillingness to extend production that might have to be shuttered at a lost when demand drops.
Governments that failed at this task in WWI all suffered for it. Tired of being in charge? Fight a war without ramping up your ammo production. Just ask the Romanovs how well this works.
It's 2022, nearly 2023. Safe bet that there are policy wonks in the Pentagon thinking they can do battlefield pick up's in the next war and the supply chain will thus be augmented. Their backup plan is very likely to outsource it all to Amazon.
Just to be on the safe side, I maintain my %BF/BMI above 22% in case there is recall of retirees.
There is very little point to the sexy things, without things that go BOOM!, for them to deliver.
Have we sunk so far into foolishness, that we depend upon our enemies for materials and electronics necessary for our defence? Do we no longer raise cotton, down South? Has Egypt and India gone out of the cotton business?
If the Military - Industrial complex is getting vast quantities of our money, shouldn't we be getting something in return? Something better than LCSes, at least?
Well, Commander, the logistics of getting necessary war material from your potential enemies is just a reflection of the German/NATO et al ideology of our "allies" that has led us to this place. Obvious answer is that others make the necessary components whe ARE your allies - so switch to them. That they haven't or won't do this speaks more to the various assessments of NATO partners' will, intelligence (as in smarts), and commitment. Even after this lesson in Ukraine, and a lot of happy talk, they are reverting to the mean.
As to Raytheon, this is merely a question of supply and demand and their bottom line. Production management says produce at a steady rate that allows for a steady workforce and no surges in production over demand or inventory necessary to meet demand. If demand drops, especially after a surge, you have to fire people and maybe reduce price to get rid of inventory. Not being able to count on anything above the Congressional contract authorizations in each budget, they only produce weapons at that level with no surge capacity.
I would argue there are a LOT of empty industrial buildings out there that could be easily used - power and utilities already in place or easily adapted. Training the workforce? Yep, but could be done while retrofitting space - while it is rocket science writ large, installing each individual component on an assembly line isn't. Hopefully we haven't gotten ourselves to a place where, like the Germans in WWII, we can produce only a few high quality weapons at a low rate due to the need for scientists to put the weapons together. In short it is more a money/finance/contract issue than the capability....and Raytheon/Defense Contractors' unwillingness to extend production that might have to be shuttered at a lost when demand drops.
Governments that failed at this task in WWI all suffered for it. Tired of being in charge? Fight a war without ramping up your ammo production. Just ask the Romanovs how well this works.
It's 2022, nearly 2023. Safe bet that there are policy wonks in the Pentagon thinking they can do battlefield pick up's in the next war and the supply chain will thus be augmented. Their backup plan is very likely to outsource it all to Amazon.
Just to be on the safe side, I maintain my %BF/BMI above 22% in case there is recall of retirees.
There is very little point to the sexy things, without things that go BOOM!, for them to deliver.
Have we sunk so far into foolishness, that we depend upon our enemies for materials and electronics necessary for our defence? Do we no longer raise cotton, down South? Has Egypt and India gone out of the cotton business?
If the Military - Industrial complex is getting vast quantities of our money, shouldn't we be getting something in return? Something better than LCSes, at least?
The military/industrial complex is a major player in the global economy 😳
https://www.army.mil/article/118465/army_program_secures_critical_component_for_artillery_mortar_ammunition
somebody saw this coming