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> First, they will not contract this to some startup or anything, but instead the company that does the periscope will do it. Wouldn't they contract Microsoft

> First, they will not contract this to some startup or anything, but instead the company that does the periscope will do it. Wouldn't they contract Microsoft to do it, since it's their own design? Even by DoD standards, Microsoft is not a "startup". I know that there are 360 controllers used in the field already (not sure about Navy). Even if they have different standards, what you're describing probably couldn't be done anyway; the periscope controller company is probably not equipped to do the beautiful consumer goods injection moldings and precision joystick assembly (and calibration). If they tried to do this, it would likely end up costing more, and as diabolical as I think the military procurement contracting process is, I don't think they would do this specific thing unless it saved money or appeared to save money. What exactly is stopping them from working with Microsoft (who they already contract with all the time!); at most having a U.S. PCB run, and a U.S. IC tapeout (IBM, Intel, ...), and calling it a day?

0xbear 9y ago
The periscope company will just CNC it out of a solid block of titanium then. Microsoft wouldn’t want their business. It’s a relatively small amount of money for very large amount of pain in the rear. And even if they did want DoDs business, DoD wouldn’t deal with them directly, instead they’d subcontract them through one of those giant contracting companies with “Federal” in their name.
- microcolonel 9y ago
  > DoD wouldn’t deal with them directly Why wouldn't they deal with them directly? They already do! I understand being cynical, but you have to admit you're making a satire of this system, no matter how ridiculous it is in reality.
  - 0xbear 9y ago
    I’m not being cynical, I’m speaking from direct experience. Satire, as it turns out, is not quite as inventive as government bureaucrats.
  - amigoingtodie 9y ago
    I waa not aware the DoD directly purchases hardware from Microsoft.
azernik 9y ago
The article specifically mentions that Lockheed is handling the integration.

0xbear 9y ago

The periscope company will just CNC it out of a solid block of titanium then. Microsoft wouldn’t want their business. It’s a relatively small amount of money for very large amount of pain in the rear. And even if they did want DoDs business, DoD wouldn’t deal with them directly, instead they’d subcontract them through one of those giant contracting companies with “Federal” in their name.

microcolonel 9y ago
> DoD wouldn’t deal with them directly Why wouldn't they deal with them directly? They already do! I understand being cynical, but you have to admit you're making a satire of this system, no matter how ridiculous it is in reality.
- 0xbear 9y ago
  I’m not being cynical, I’m speaking from direct experience. Satire, as it turns out, is not quite as inventive as government bureaucrats.
- amigoingtodie 9y ago
  I waa not aware the DoD directly purchases hardware from Microsoft.

azernik 9y ago

The article specifically mentions that Lockheed is handling the integration.