4 ms·

ULA's only business is selling launches, almost entirely to the US Government, so the subsidy would have to come from their owners - Lockheed and Boeing. I have

ULA's only business is selling launches, almost entirely to the US Government, so the subsidy would have to come from their owners - Lockheed and Boeing. I haven't seen any indication that they are at all interested in giving ULA a massive subsidy to gain market share - in fact it looks more like the opposite, they have been reluctant to invest in ULA and have been funding Vulcan development on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

eggy 10y ago
And Lockheed still has to clean up the F-35 fighter mess with cost overruns, cancelled orders, spies taking terabytes of data, and retrofitting already-delivered planes. Not to mention, suspicious accounting of the amount of indirect jobs it supposedly created, and ever-increasing costs as other countries bail or lower their order numbers. It is the most expensive weapons system purchase to date.
- secfirstmd 10y ago
  I'm always curious how much of a "covert" budget for the next stealth or other projects, can be hidden in something as big as the F35 program.
  - DigitalJack 10y ago
    That's an interesting point. I could only hope that it is actually true, and that the F35 is more subterfuge than boondoggle.
    - kuschku 10y ago
      With the cost overrun of the F35 Project, though, one could probably finance a whole Stargate program, spaceships included.
      - robbiemitchell 10y ago
        Assuming there aren't similar cost overruns...
  - Teever 10y ago
    I've wondered the same. I'm quite curious when they'll unveil an unmanned F-35. I also wonder just how much of the technology and the pace of development we're seeing from SpaceX hasn't originated from the military themselves.
    - eggy 10y ago
      You need a human, not to fly it right now, but somebody has to reboot the software in flight ;) [1] [1] http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/f-35-radar-system-has-bug-that-requires-hard-reboot-in-flight/
  - Gravityloss 10y ago
    I've heard that would be illegal

eggy 10y ago

And Lockheed still has to clean up the F-35 fighter mess with cost overruns, cancelled orders, spies taking terabytes of data, and retrofitting already-delivered planes. Not to mention, suspicious accounting of the amount of indirect jobs it supposedly created, and ever-increasing costs as other countries bail or lower their order numbers. It is the most expensive weapons system purchase to date.

secfirstmd 10y ago
I'm always curious how much of a "covert" budget for the next stealth or other projects, can be hidden in something as big as the F35 program.
- DigitalJack 10y ago
  That's an interesting point. I could only hope that it is actually true, and that the F35 is more subterfuge than boondoggle.
  - kuschku 10y ago
    With the cost overrun of the F35 Project, though, one could probably finance a whole Stargate program, spaceships included.
    - robbiemitchell 10y ago
      Assuming there aren't similar cost overruns...
- Teever 10y ago
  I've wondered the same. I'm quite curious when they'll unveil an unmanned F-35. I also wonder just how much of the technology and the pace of development we're seeing from SpaceX hasn't originated from the military themselves.
  - eggy 10y ago
    You need a human, not to fly it right now, but somebody has to reboot the software in flight ;) [1] [1] http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/f-35-radar-system-has-bug-that-requires-hard-reboot-in-flight/
- Gravityloss 10y ago
  I've heard that would be illegal