the RDT&E point is the one nobody accounts for. everyone quotes the flyaway price like the government didn't already eat 25% designing the thing. so the real gap on a per-round basis is way past the 5-10x headline.
curious how you're thinking about the sustainment tail on new entrants though, cheap unit cost is great but a warm production line only stays warm if the orders keep coming. what happens to castelion or covenant if the demand signal goes jittery again mid contract?
Covenant figured that out and will making missiles in Europe, Israel and the US. What with Israel surrounded by 25 Muslim countries and Europe facing Russia expansion, any slowdown in the US won't hurt much as demand will be solid overseas.
Anduril is looking to open an office in Israel and Castelion has made it clear they want to have a huge overseas presence.
The F-35 II is sold to a dozen countries with dozen more looking to buy or having signed contracts - Lockheed will be making as many as possible for years to come.
These are all fair discussions but ignores the role of cognitive warfare and the ability to avoid kinetic warfare with cognitive (non-kinetic). Defense will always be needed. Some offense as well. But arsenal allocation without accounting for the new state of cognitive leads to bad math.
the RDT&E point is the one nobody accounts for. everyone quotes the flyaway price like the government didn't already eat 25% designing the thing. so the real gap on a per-round basis is way past the 5-10x headline.
curious how you're thinking about the sustainment tail on new entrants though, cheap unit cost is great but a warm production line only stays warm if the orders keep coming. what happens to castelion or covenant if the demand signal goes jittery again mid contract?
Covenant figured that out and will making missiles in Europe, Israel and the US. What with Israel surrounded by 25 Muslim countries and Europe facing Russia expansion, any slowdown in the US won't hurt much as demand will be solid overseas.
Anduril is looking to open an office in Israel and Castelion has made it clear they want to have a huge overseas presence.
The F-35 II is sold to a dozen countries with dozen more looking to buy or having signed contracts - Lockheed will be making as many as possible for years to come.
These are all fair discussions but ignores the role of cognitive warfare and the ability to avoid kinetic warfare with cognitive (non-kinetic). Defense will always be needed. Some offense as well. But arsenal allocation without accounting for the new state of cognitive leads to bad math.