Many countries have gotten pretty good at producing cutting edge military equipment - but cheap equipment is often a different matter.
With the war in Ukraine demonstrating that quantity and affordability can sometimes matter as much as raw capability, today (by patron vote), I want to unpack some of the reasons countries can sometimes struggle to build equipment for less than eye-watering prices - and what options might be available to try and narrow the cost gap with more economical competitors.
All normal caveats and comments apply. In particular – I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and is not intended to be a complete or comprehensive examination of the topic in question and should not be relied upon to inform financial or other similar decisions.
Any content relating to the conduct, views, activities or any aspect of any person or character in this video is included for entertainment purposes and does not represent an assertion of fact on those matters or any matters in relation to that person or character.
Care has been taken in compiling data, quotes, and other inputs from various sources but errors can occur. Quotes and included data should be considered illustrative, not definitive and their veracity should not be relied on.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Opening Words 00:01:39 — What Am I Talking About? 00:03:52 — How Bad is It? 00:14:51 — Who? 00:20:48 — the Military Doesn't Ask for Them 00:27:52 — Governments Doesn't Fund Them 00:32:06 — Industry Doesn't Design Them 00:37:05 — Commercial OTS Inputs & Incentives 00:43:57 — Scale, Predictability & Incentives 00:52:32 — Are Things Changing? 00:58:45 — Channel Update
