4 ms·

Taxpayers Funded a $533M Artillery Plant That Made Nothing

71 points by Jimmc414 2mo ago

ratelimitsteve 2mo ago
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/general-dynamics/totals?id=D000000165 https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/general-dynamics/totals?id=... For those about to ask the obvious question, the company that built the plant that charged half a billion dollars in exchange for not much of anything at all donates between $3 and $5 million per year, more or less evenly split across parties but slightly favoring republicans.
DANmode 2mo ago
Made at least one Congressperson or similar happy, can bet that.
exabrial 2mo ago
[flagged]
- elias_t 2mo ago
  I heard about this but could you elaborate? From the outside it seems like a nice idea to cut costs
  - pinkytoes 2mo ago
    He is simply incorrect. A non-profit teamed up with a heat-pump installation marketplace (VoltHub) and a heat-pump contractor to put together a group buy. No money comes from the government. It's just some folks teaming up to help buyers get leverage on manufacturers, and save 10-20%. The beneficiaries are installers, technicians, homeowners, and anybody who likes more efficient hvac. It's actually a pretty solid example of what people who don't want the government involved _should_ support.
    - overtone1000 2mo ago
      The "About" and "Leadership" sections of the website show that there is government involvement, and the "Funding Partners" section shows that the CEC (a state government entity) is providing funding.
      - pinkytoes 2mo ago
        I was responding to a false claim that the pumps are being bought by the government to support a donor. The CEC put in minor funds to launch and market the program. But the program itself does NOT involve government purchases or subsidies of the equipment.
  - solid_fuel 2mo ago
    [flagged]
- mikestew 2mo ago
  That is a massive misrepresentation, and arguably intentionally deceptive to support a narrative. One can read the blueprint for themselves and come to your own conclusions. https://heatpumppartnership.org/blueprint https://heatpumppartnership.org/blueprint
vfclists 2mo ago
War is a racket. Under the Trump administration it is an even bigger racket. "Repkon said other countries were using the machines to produce the older model. But the Army and General Dynamics could not inspect those active production lines, Repkon told them, citing customer privacy." Can you believe this? Both the US Army and General Dynamics paying 100s of millions to a subcontractor whose production lines they are not allowed to inspect "citing customer privacy"? Even your supermarket chain is able to inspect their subcontractors production lines producing their in house brands and the US Army can't? I guess the "kon" in Repkon says it all, ie their "Rep"utation is a "Kon". America's military is doomed. Heard the news about sailors on the Abraham Lincoln rioting with 7 dead because of the shithole conditions on the carrier?
- deleted 2mo ago
  [deleted]
- no-name-here 2mo ago
  > sailors on the Abraham Lincoln rioting with 7 dead At least that part seems wrong, as CENTCOM says no deaths: https://time.com/article/2026/08/14/uss-abraham-lincoln-conditions-trump-iran-war/ https://time.com/article/2026/08/14/uss-abraham-lincoln-cond... (Alternatively, source?)
  - vfclists 2mo ago
    Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu7NlEdQJJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu7NlEdQJJ8
- cineticdaffodil 2mo ago
  [dead]
ElProlactin 2mo ago
It's a good thing that the US isn't involved in any wars or anything like that. Otherwise Americans might start asking why they've been spending $500+ billion/year on defense and are running low on munitions, can't achieve strategic victories against supposedly weak enemies, etc. /s
- kwertyoowiyop 2mo ago
  If only it was as low as $500 billion. It’s at least twice that.
  - ElProlactin 2mo ago
    Yeah it's ~$1 trillion now. I should have qualified: $500+ billion/year for the past ~20 years.
- cineticdaffodil 2mo ago
  [dead]
SomeHacker44 2mo ago
I saw this movie. Schindler's List, was it? History really does repeat itself.
jimrandomh 2mo ago
This article makes no mention of Russian sabotage, but the Russian military has been caught sabotaging similar munitions-manufacturing facilities in Europe. Incompetence might be sufficient to explain the failure, but it also seems reasonably likely that there was an undetected sabotage operation or two mixed in to compound the problems.
- vfclists 2mo ago
  Oh dear it is the Russians again. They are to blame for everything. Are they to blame for the US Army's acquiescence to Repkon's refusal to allow them to see production lines in operation, or are Repkon manufacturing artillery shells for Russia too?
  - ceejayoz 2mo ago
    > Are they to blame for the US Army's acquiescence… I mean, their favored candidate is said army's Commander in Chief. Per the Trump administration's own intentionally released docs! https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-declassified-docs-reveal-russia-153433659.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-declassif...

71 points by Jimmc414 2mo ago

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/general-dynamics/totals?id=D000000165 https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/general-dynamics/totals?id=... For those about to ask the obvious question, the company that built the plant that charged half a billion dollars in exchange for not much of anything at all donates between $3 and $5 million per year, more or less evenly split across parties but slightly favoring republicans.

DANmode 2mo ago

Made at least one Congressperson or similar happy, can bet that.

exabrial 2mo ago

[flagged]

elias_t 2mo ago
I heard about this but could you elaborate? From the outside it seems like a nice idea to cut costs
- pinkytoes 2mo ago
  He is simply incorrect. A non-profit teamed up with a heat-pump installation marketplace (VoltHub) and a heat-pump contractor to put together a group buy. No money comes from the government. It's just some folks teaming up to help buyers get leverage on manufacturers, and save 10-20%. The beneficiaries are installers, technicians, homeowners, and anybody who likes more efficient hvac. It's actually a pretty solid example of what people who don't want the government involved _should_ support.
  - overtone1000 2mo ago
    The "About" and "Leadership" sections of the website show that there is government involvement, and the "Funding Partners" section shows that the CEC (a state government entity) is providing funding.
    - pinkytoes 2mo ago
      I was responding to a false claim that the pumps are being bought by the government to support a donor. The CEC put in minor funds to launch and market the program. But the program itself does NOT involve government purchases or subsidies of the equipment.
- solid_fuel 2mo ago
  [flagged]
mikestew 2mo ago
That is a massive misrepresentation, and arguably intentionally deceptive to support a narrative. One can read the blueprint for themselves and come to your own conclusions. https://heatpumppartnership.org/blueprint https://heatpumppartnership.org/blueprint

vfclists 2mo ago

War is a racket. Under the Trump administration it is an even bigger racket. "Repkon said other countries were using the machines to produce the older model. But the Army and General Dynamics could not inspect those active production lines, Repkon told them, citing customer privacy." Can you believe this? Both the US Army and General Dynamics paying 100s of millions to a subcontractor whose production lines they are not allowed to inspect "citing customer privacy"? Even your supermarket chain is able to inspect their subcontractors production lines producing their in house brands and the US Army can't? I guess the "kon" in Repkon says it all, ie their "Rep"utation is a "Kon". America's military is doomed. Heard the news about sailors on the Abraham Lincoln rioting with 7 dead because of the shithole conditions on the carrier?

deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
no-name-here 2mo ago
> sailors on the Abraham Lincoln rioting with 7 dead At least that part seems wrong, as CENTCOM says no deaths: https://time.com/article/2026/08/14/uss-abraham-lincoln-conditions-trump-iran-war/ https://time.com/article/2026/08/14/uss-abraham-lincoln-cond... (Alternatively, source?)
- vfclists 2mo ago
  Source - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu7NlEdQJJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu7NlEdQJJ8
cineticdaffodil 2mo ago
[dead]

ElProlactin 2mo ago

It's a good thing that the US isn't involved in any wars or anything like that. Otherwise Americans might start asking why they've been spending $500+ billion/year on defense and are running low on munitions, can't achieve strategic victories against supposedly weak enemies, etc. /s

kwertyoowiyop 2mo ago
If only it was as low as $500 billion. It’s at least twice that.
- ElProlactin 2mo ago
  Yeah it's ~$1 trillion now. I should have qualified: $500+ billion/year for the past ~20 years.
cineticdaffodil 2mo ago
[dead]

SomeHacker44 2mo ago

I saw this movie. Schindler's List, was it? History really does repeat itself.

jimrandomh 2mo ago

This article makes no mention of Russian sabotage, but the Russian military has been caught sabotaging similar munitions-manufacturing facilities in Europe. Incompetence might be sufficient to explain the failure, but it also seems reasonably likely that there was an undetected sabotage operation or two mixed in to compound the problems.

vfclists 2mo ago
Oh dear it is the Russians again. They are to blame for everything. Are they to blame for the US Army's acquiescence to Repkon's refusal to allow them to see production lines in operation, or are Repkon manufacturing artillery shells for Russia too?
- ceejayoz 2mo ago
  > Are they to blame for the US Army's acquiescence… I mean, their favored candidate is said army's Commander in Chief. Per the Trump administration's own intentionally released docs! https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-declassified-docs-reveal-russia-153433659.html https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/trump-declassif...