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kleinbl00  ·  3626 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The War Nerd waxes eloquent on the A-10 and F-35

The more history I study, the more parallels I see between America and feudal Europe. The CIA was a gentlemen's club of adventurers who were all well-connected; the Federal Reserve was created by business interests for business interests.

I think I read that article back when it was topical. No one was surprised. Ben Rich, director of Lockheed's Skunk Works for the Stealth Fighter and beyond, put it pretty succinctly: defense contractors exist pretty much on the constant dole of the government and who gets what project is much more a matter of need than a matter of successful design. He was talking smack about the Rockwell B-1 bomber at the time but the mirror could certainly be held up to the F-35.