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by pjc504 hours ago |
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upvoteby 271833 hours ago|
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> if the US products fail, there's no real negative effect on the mainland United States

It's even worse than that. Schedules slipping and cost overruns are good things for the manufacturer, because they can charge more on top of their initial contract. Cost-plus ftw.

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upvoteby Retric2 hours ago|
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Cost plus isn’t nearly as common as it used to be.

But you still run into similar issues regardless of the contract structure. Try and build a rail network without anyone in government wanting something changed from the initial design for 20 years.

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upvoteby scottyah2 hours ago|
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They can pop out defects and if things go wrong and there's friendly fire or civilian loss, it's chalked up to scrappy efforts in war. The USA does not get the same amount of leeway, saving our people is a top priority and the media harps on any mistake.
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upvoteby victorbjorklund16 minutes ago|
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And it makes sense. If the choice is between getting killed by the enemy and loosing the war or risking that one in 10 000 launches results in friendly fire it might be worth it but it would not be for a country not fighting a war for survival.
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upvoteby sjsdaiuasgdia1 hours ago|
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It's an existential threat for Ukraine. The US has not faced a similar (external) existential threat in a very long time.

Ukraine fights back or they lose their sovereignty. Most of the conflicts the US gets into, it's entirely a choice to put soldiers at risk.

So yeah, the evaluation of war effort will be different, because the situations are completely different.

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upvoteby barrenko3 hours ago|
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To add that Ukraine was also USSR's drone research center; not to detract from what you are saying.
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upvoteby mizzao8 minutes ago|
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Not sure if you're alluding to this but it's analogous to the same differences between startups and big tech companies.

Startups = have few resources, product has to work or company dies

Big tech = minimal cost of failure, instead minimizing risk

And yet this mechanic is also why startups are able to innovate and bring new products to market so much faster.

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upvoteby rayiner3 hours ago|
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Yeah, their tech development in drones is really impressive. An invading army has a way of focusing the mind and bureaucracy.
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upvoteby Fedot1 hours ago|
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To be fair, I know plenty of people there. Drones are important, but they aren't the only reason the front is holding. Both sides rely heavily on drones.
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upvoteby letitgo123453 hours ago|
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Well there's long term impact but yea that doesn't create enough political pressure to make process efficient
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upvoteby NooneAtAll33 hours ago|
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[flagged]
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