Re: Interesting - Ukraine Missiles Use Open Source, Russians Use Pi-4s

On 7/18/26 21:29, rbowman wrote:
> On Sat, 18 Jul 2026 19:38:31 -0400, c186282 wrote:
> 
>>     Meanwhile, everything made in USA costs a million dollars per unit
>>     and take forever to build.
> 
> I forget who said 'Generals do not end wars; accountants do.'  Estimates
> vary but the Tamir missile used by Iron Dome costs around $50K. When you
> use them to blow up a $5K DJI drone the costs add up fast. That's chicken
> feed compared to the cost of a Tomahawk.

   There's some truth in that. However it depends on
   whether you view the Iran problem as Just A Problem
   or an EXISTENTIAL problem. If the latter, which has
   been increasingly valid the past five years, then
   the money DOESN'T MATTER - ya just GOTTA.

   As for the money-grubbing MIC ... I think everybody
   is ON to them now. Good war machines CAN be made
   quick and cheap ... this is gonna define a lot of
   the 21st century.

   Sometimes attributed to Stalin, the phrase "Quantity
   has a quality all of its own". 21st century power is
   gonna be defined by the "nest of hornets" paradigm,
   not the last-century model of giant ships and bombers
   which are now nice big slow TARGETS.

   Yea yea ... the mil LOVES giant ships full of saluting
   sailors, field of Top Guns in hyper-expensive planes.
   But that can't be how it is anymore.

   Trump and others kinda get this now ... but changing
   the MIC is gonna be *difficult* - too many tentacles
   into everything.

   A relatively small drone/cruise running on (hopefully
   hardened) open-source guidance/targeting software and
   dirt-cheap chips ARE smacking the shit out of mighty
   Russia right now. It has no good defense. Neither would
   the USA/'west'. The Chinese are putting decent 'AI'
   into their cheap-ish weapons. Again the 'west' can't
   match that.

> Trump may not care about the price of gas and food but the rest of the
> country does. I'm waiting for the Houthis to start raising hell in the Red
> Sea. That will put the icing on the cake.

   Go suck yer Ayatollah ... he's calling .......

   Waiting for a nuke to go off anywhere near
   Israel ... they'll solve the Iran problem ...

   And as for the price of gasoline - was STILL more
   expensive with Joe and his 'socialist' barbershop
   quartet.

   Gas prices in Europe ... well ... should have HELPED
   with Iran folks instead of pissing yourselves and
   hiding under the table ....... "Let's just PAY OFF
   the fanatic terrorists and EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE !".

   As I recall Jews tried that tact in 1930s Europe ...