[thaumasiotes]

I found this one interesting:

> “Vendors in the United States would laugh at us,” Hichwa said. American-made radios could cost $10,000 when he needed something for $30. The founders realized they’d have to build components themselves and seek suppliers outside the defense industry. Instead of using computer chips common in military equipment that cost hundreds of dollars, Neros used chips designed for parking meters at $1 each.

By the time your certification process represents 99.7%+ of your total costs, there's a chance it's hurting you more than it's helping.

[kragen]

It helps Lockheed Martin by preventing 21-year-olds from waltzing into the Pentagon and selling weapon systems to the DoD, allowing them to capture 300× more value than if they were subject to market competition.

[thaumasiotes]

Well, this is a requirement that gets passed through to Lockheed Martin and inflates their costs about as much as it inflates the Pentagon's costs. For Lockheed Martin to benefit, they need to be selling on a cost-plus basis, where lower efficiency mechanically means higher profit.

[kragen]

Guess how Lockheed Martin's contracts with the Pentagon are structured?

[kenjackson]

Elon did the same thing with SpaceX. If you don’t need five 9s (for whatever the certification is measuring) and can get by with three — you can often save 10x on cost.

[dluan]

But the parking meter chips are still made in China...

[thaumasiotes]

The article notes that this would violate Neros' requirements. Why do you think it's true?