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Secretary of Defense Rock

Ah

The Washington Post

The urgent need for new weapons is a major test for the Trump administration. The Defense Department is betting on Silicon Valley start-ups to replenish stockpiles amid the Iran war. Now the firms must prove they can manufacture at military scale.

Обсуждение

22 прямых ответов · 47 сообщений

Ответ для Secretary of Defense Rock
Secretary of Defense Rock

Granted this is still the most viewed piece I’ve ever written but half of them were “how dare you criticize our glorious defense VC overlords”

Ответ для Secretary of Defense Rock
Jean-Marc Lafon

“If an enemy bomber reaches the Ruhr, my name isn't Göring. You can call me Meyer.” Hermann Meyer

Ответ для Secretary of Defense Rock
Robert Borden Stan Account

It's interesting how the US defence VCs became the standard-bearers for "disruption" or moving away from the Primes when they are in the US defence industry ecosystem, which is among the best-capitalized and where the Primes' various issues probably matter the least.

Ответ для Robert Borden Stan Account
Robert Borden Stan Account

The US already has very large, experienced firms domiciled in the US and who view the US military as their first and most important customer, who have the money and talent to produce large quantities of world-class weapons. It is the absolute last country on earth to need a "neoprime".

Ответ для Robert Borden Stan Account
Robert Borden Stan Account

I also think the immense amount of dumb money in US venture capital (and the cronyism and brainworms of Luckey, Thielworld etc.) also gives firms like Anduril, Palantir etc. more of an opportunity to make stupid promises and chase dumb ideas, because cash flow and political cover will come anyway.

Ответ для Robert Borden Stan Account
Robert Borden Stan Account

I find it interesting to contrast this with, say, Dominion Dynamics, founded by a former Anduril guy. It still raises my hackles in some areas but overall seems more grounded and less weird. This could be down to virtue, but is more likely a product of a far more constrained fiscal environment.

Building Next-Generation Defence Systems — DominionDominion Dynamics builds the autonomy stack for the Arctic — integrated sensing, communications, and command and control for defence, security, and critical infrastructure.www.defendthedominion.com
Ответ для Robert Borden Stan Account
Ranamar

I read a job description which described a defense contractor as "the Trusted Disruptor in defense tech." Which, uh, man, what?

Ответ для Secretary of Defense Rock
Secretary of Defense Rock

Granted Trump and co. are trying to ram through an increase in defense spending but spoiler, it’s a political hand grenade!

economymedicine

Maybe they shouldn't use all the super expensive fancy stuff just because it looks cool. Plus the only thing these VC dorks are offering is different guidance systems the motors and explosives are still basically the same.

Eric Blyler

Ooooh. A pitch!

shaunc

Many such cases

VictorK

We're gonna lose lose the next war and it's gonna change the world.

hapbt

"strategy" new definition of strategy just dropped

Evening Forest News

Why do I recall the promise that Tesla would make ventilators during the pandemic? I don’t remember that working

kierceldwen

This sounds like a house of cards. Has Silicon Valley ever delivered anything in our current stockpile? I would think the most they deliver is components (including software as a component)?

tylerviger

Time to resurrect an old glonzo... a "missile gap" if you will.

SkyGuy

If only we had a SecDef who would be interested in procurement?

Megaweapon

Liz Holmes was going to make Quest Diagnostics obsolete and Palmer Luckey is going to make Lockheed-Martin obsolete.

Oh SureALT: Oh Surestatic.klipy.com
Sock Puppet Pundit

The largest single employer in Georgia is a military base — one base not all of the bases here in Georgia. There are local economies built on war. That’s why politicians are so willing to fund the military. No one even mentions BRAC anymore.

Ответ для Sock Puppet Pundit
Mike Yass

BRAC was a scheme to move military bases to the south to reduce costs, and as part of a general post Cold War draw down We are in a defense build up now - and so we are only going to spend more

Ответ для Mike Yass
Sock Puppet Pundit

I’m in the South and live next to one of those bases. I don’t think people grasp how much of the economy is bolstered by the military industrial complex. I know the people who benefit from higher salaries and beefy benefits of their war jobs don’t grasp how much better off than the average worker.

Numbcat9

I mean Silicon Valley startups & the military are like peas and carrots. Kaiser - the same Kaiser whose hospitals are everywhere - innovated a changed way to build ships for WWII. In less time, I think. Skunk works were in LA area. Long awful history of innovating new ways to murder efficiently.

Baal

Silicon Valley will replenish out weapon stocks. The weapons:

Ответ для Baal
A Teapot Dome In Every Pot

We replaced the jet engines with another cockpit that faces backwards. This is the kind of innovation that larger defense contractors refuse to provide.

川上信 (Shin Kawakami)🇯🇵🇨🇳🇺🇸

As a more hardware-oriented engineer who lives in SB and has a lot of tech bro friends, I’m feeling such déjà vu…

Ответ для 川上信 (Shin Kawakami)🇯🇵🇨🇳🇺🇸
JRoth

It's kind of crazy, bc there's basically one major tech company making objects at scale, and they quite famously make 100% of them overseas. Like, there are few things SV knows less about than large scale domestic manufacturing.

Ответ для JRoth
Dave

I find your lack of faith in the breadth of things ghat the All In podcast knows absolutely nothing about disturbing.

Davis X. Machina

After a life spent in public education I recognized instantly our own version of this cycle.

ChainSmokingNihilist

Just a way to funnel $ to his sons and other members of the mob.

Ответ для Cadence “Luwak Labor Liaison” Andrysiak
Cadence “Luwak Labor Liaison” Andrysiak

“We can deliver within budgetary constraints” “No you can’t, the venn diagram we’ve referred to since ancient ti-“ “AI INVALIDATES THE VENN DIAGRAM :))) GIVE ME MONEY :)))”

Ответ для Cadence “Luwak Labor Liaison” Andrysiak
Joseph Cappadonia

Pete is currently doing that.

Kampf mit Kette

Damn WaPo is cooking

Ответ для Kampf mit Kette
Kampf mit Kette

Ceterum Censeo we need more moustache twirling top hat wearing Manchester Capitalists instead of the silicon valley type

Ответ для Kampf mit Kette
Kampf mit Kette

or some mid 20th century Ford executives (without the antisemitism stuff)

Ответ для Kampf mit Kette
Davis X. Machina

Fewer Boring Company/Musk types. More Sodor Railways/Fat Controllers (US Sir Topham Hat}.

Chad Williams

Yeah. I'm not really counting on the American VC class to be useful here.

Ответ для Gigan, Therapod Enthusiast
Ответ для Gigan, Therapod Enthusiast
Ashwin Varma

Idk, I think you can support Driscoll statement alone, without reference to SV / Anduril. This is a market, part of that involves firms failing and rising. Primes have appeared and disappeared in the past, now shouldn’t be different.

Ответ для Ashwin Varma
Eustis Bell

Sure, the primes aren't forever, but none of them are displaying any big indicators of financial troubles. The bet is that SV will do it better, and that just isn't how the defense market looks, despite a year plus of massive expenditure headed to SV.

Ответ для Eustis Bell
Gigan, Therapod Enthusiast

Right, this is not a contextless statement, its part of the belief among the SV folks that the primes produce bad platforms and gouge the department, which is not true. He is also strongly aligned with Anduril/Palantir so that is where he is coming from, not a general statement about competition