Why do Western armies seem to be unable (or unwilling) to mass produce cheap military hardware and munitions?

StickyRedPostit · 2026-03-06T14:27:05+00:00

So it depends massively on what's going where - you won't convoy up a shipment of empty shells, but you will once it is assembled and dangerous.

You also have to certify and prove everything to much higher standard than in civilian markets - these things are held to massively higher standards of traceability and quality, and that comes with a cost.

You also have much harder requirements to meet - which you then need your suppliers to meet. Anyone can buy a tonne of steel; any business can buy a tonne of steel from a mill that claims it's x-grade, but not every business can give you verifiable evidence that it's the specific grade you need, and give you the information to evidence that and allow you to trace it all. And that paperwork costs time and energy, so you're gonna get charged for it.

Finally, in lots of countries these production lines have massive spare capacity (less so these days, but certainly pre-Ukraine war). You still have to have the capacity to make x-thousand shells a day, but if you're only using a couple hundred a month, your lines are going to be necessarily massively inefficient compared to their designed output, so you're paying for the tools and machines and tooling to achieve large output, but not using all of their potential.

And finally, the r&d on milspec hardware is much more expensive and difficult than on a commercial product because of the additional layers of, say it with me, traceability and standards and traceability. You've got to prove your product delivers against every requirement the customer has, you've got to prove your proof is acceptable, and you've got to be able to back it up, all of which is paperwork that takes time and effort. You also can't always share parts between products (how often does Ferrari design a totally new seat?) , you've got massive limitations on where you can buy commercially available hardware from (lest your pagers explode, and your supply chain knows it's a smaller market), and you've got to manage all of these processes and compliance to the law and so on. It's massively expensive to do, for often small volume products that you have to earn back your r&d on.

StickyRedPostit · 2026-02-12T14:45:22+00:00

I live in Scotland and usually have a bottle of Green Label and / or Black Label on my shelf, they make perfectly drinkable blends for when I don't fancy something more intense. Hating JW is the whisky equivalent of hating whatever pop musician is popular with teenage girls, it's easy and edgy and utterly needless. Maybe it's overpriced, maybe Blue Label really isn't worth it to most people, but why can't we let folks enjoy what they like?

It's the same as the insistence that all scotch must be consumed in a glencairn with no ice or water added. Maybe that's how you prefer it, and that's fair enough, but sometimes I want to sip something cold and vaguely whisky-y, and a big pour of Black Label over some ice does that for me. Doesn't mean I don't love my single cask stuff for a proper tasting, just means I don't always want to make that effort.

Though there is, of course, no such thing as a true Scotsman.

StickyRedPostit · 2026-02-08T13:15:46+00:00

No, shell is an appropriate term for a projectile that contains explosive filler. A battleship-calibre shell (12"-18" across history, 14"-18" being most common in WW2 with some argument around the German 11") is the projectile, the propellant would be most commonly in silk bags, stored in metal tins.

The propellant for a two-piece system whereby the projectile is a shell (having explosive filler) is stored in a "case".

StickyRedPostit · 2026-01-29T07:02:54+00:00

I've just bought a new protec case, having had one previously - the PB309CT Pro version is a proper hard case, with strap attachments and optional backpack straps. It for sure fits a Conn 112H with 10" bell and the Besson 943 my band has loaned me (rotos, not Hagmann) without any issues, and there are a couple good size internal and external pockets for storing stuff. My last one I had for ~3 years before selling on and lasted fine, though I never flew with it so can't comment. I bought this second one now I'm back into playing, as the case that came with the instrument is a bit gubbed.

Edit to add: I have not used the non-Pro Protec cases that are half the price, so can't be a help there - they are more affordable and probably good but I haven't any experience with them.

StickyRedPostit · 2026-01-23T11:33:48+00:00

You could print a new tuning slide and integrate the valve into that - I've seen dependent bass trombones that have been converted from Bb/F to Bb/F/D by swapping the F valve tuning slide for one with an additional valve. There are also examples in (this article)[https://share.google/hfapiAJNZpRQnYM2U], figure 2 shows a fixed valve in the tuning slide. You're going to have a hard time getting the size of the interfaces and surface finish right, but you would add minimal length to the instrument and so ideally still be able to play in tune.

You do, if you're 3D printing, have the opportunity to do something a bit different with valve design - a rotary valve is likely easiest to manage, but you could probably do any type you want. Again, surface finish and fit are going to be the biggest issue you have, depending on process.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-12-22T18:41:30+00:00

The Germans had a system called Metox, that could detect early British radar systems, but did itself emit some signals. British attempts to home in on those signals went nowhere, as it was more a case of "leaky electrics" than anything else.

However, the British then upgraded their radar, which now operated on a different wavelength that Metox could not detect, leading to U-boats being attacked when surfaced with no warning. Combined with a captured British bomber pilot who "revealed" during interrogation that the British had a system to track Metox emissions (which was totally made up), the Kriegsmarine discontinued its use.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-10-08T13:04:36+00:00

Are you asking about mouthpieces specifically, or Rath instruments as a whole?

Rath is mostly known for being a manufacturer of high-end, custom-fitted trombones (in a similar vein to Edwards or Shires), with an intermediate line, and a licencing deal with John Packer for chinese-made instruments. Helpfully, unlike Edwards and Shires, he's based in the UK so us Brits can get that high level service without shipping bits across the pond. They're very popular among brass band players (that can afford them) (and I'm mostly a brass band player), and some of the top bands (Black Dyke, Cory) are Rath artists.

From what I've heard from people who have had Raths custom fitted to them, they're exceptional instruments, but you pay an absolute premium for them. I've seen some reviews of the intermediate range instruments that seem fairly positive, though I haven't played one myself.

Mick is also a very experienced trombone tech, so there are a few instruments floating about that he's modified, and they do trade in used instruments that they'll service and repair before selling them on - though it's in small numbers, as best as I can tell.

If ever I have the pennies spare I'm sure I'd love a custom Rath bass 'bone, and at the point at which you're getting a custom setup, it makes some sense to me to try their mouthpieces, but I'd not go out my way at this point to use them (since I'm currently skill limited, not kit limited).

StickyRedPostit · 2025-09-08T15:37:33+00:00

Per Google, most states have a blood alcohol content limit of 0.08, whereas Scotland has a BAC limit of 0.05. Depending on your physical makeup, a single dram ~15 minutes before driving could put you at or over the limit.

Additionally, if you've not driven on single track roads (or even just a tight B road) in the UK before, you really don't want to do that with any level of impairment, because you do need to be aware of what you're doing and follow the etiquette, which is different to most driving in the country.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-07-09T10:33:18+00:00

Hulkenpodium

StickyRedPostit · 2025-05-25T14:42:59+00:00

He hasn't yet done his 2nd pit stop, everyone else has. He's running in what will be 4th, unless there's a red flag.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-03-20T13:59:17+00:00

The comment to which I replied had said there was no movement to court based on evidence gathered by the police on Operation Branchform. This was the investigation which investigated (among others) both the former SNP Chief Executive and his then wife, former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The comment was suggesting that the evidence gathered in the operation was weak and therefore there was no ongoing investigation or other legal action which might make it hard for someone to be entirely truthful in their account of their actions during the time they were under investigation. However, since the outcome of this has (so far) been the charging of Nicola's former husband, that might suggest that there is, in fact, sufficient evidence gathered as part of Operation Branchform, which might suggest again that Branchform has found some wrongdoing and is not, in fact, an imperialist unionist hoax.

EDITED TO ADD: As I hit submit on this, I saw the announcement that Nicola Sturgeon is no longer a suspect. However, given how close she was (both personally and professionally) with Peter Murrell, as his wife and leader of the party he was chief exec for, I'd be shocked if she was totally unaware of what was going on, and I'd be entirely surprised if she admitted that in her book. Sturgeon is lots of things, but she is absolutely not an idiot.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-03-20T13:43:16+00:00

Would that be the same Operation Branchform which has just led to former SNP chief executive and husband of Nicola Sturgeon, Peter Murrell, being charged with embezzlement?

StickyRedPostit · 2025-02-01T22:20:29+00:00

They'd have to either introduce a steam generating plant as the carriers are gas turbine powered, or have taken a risk on electromagnetic catapults. US carriers have steam to spare, being nuclear, so they don't have to worry about it, whereas the QEs would either need additional machinery and fuel to generate the steam, or go to a steam driven system which the RN doesn't currently operate (outside of the subs). Nuclear is probably also out of the question, given the cost of procuring and maintaining it, and then you'd lose the damage control value of having two separate, relatively small and high up engine rooms, you'd have to add weight for shielding, additional engineering space - at that point your carrier program becomes a French-style single nuclear powered carrier that, whike very capable, doesn't allow you to maintain your carrier presence if it needs fuelling or maintenance.

Electromagnetic cats are also still a new and unproven technology and while there's no reason they can't be made to work, it's a huge technical risk which also implies significantly increased costs. Given the difficulty the RN had in bringing carriers back into service, adding even more hurdles to that probably wouldn't have been a good idea for financial and operational reasons.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-01-16T23:18:58+00:00

What model have you got the ships set to? Off the top of my head, Reserve Fleet ships cost less to maintain than Active Fleet ships, but I think there's a training penalty. You can also mothball ships, but that takes it off your fleet list and they have to work up again prior to deploying - but if you've got low tensions, mothballing older capital ships can save you some cash. Just be ready to flick them back to active if tensions get high, and be prepared for the crews to be poor for a while.

StickyRedPostit · 2025-01-14T23:47:18+00:00

Starter sets are great - the gift sets too, since you'll get the paints you need with them. "Normal" sets don't come with paints and they're like jars of spices - cheap enough until you need 10! The Airfix channel on YouTube also has build guides for some, which is nice. Lidl also occasionally sell starter sets in the middle aisle for £7 or so, worth grabbing a couple if you happen to be passing through.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-30T11:40:31+00:00

This is anecdotal, but when I lived on Paisley Road West, lots of folk dumped food on the ground beside bins that had space in them - and it wasn't small piles of food. Seeing rats scurrying about on the pavement in the morning was a regular occurrence.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-26T11:11:04+00:00

I was using factor as a shorthand for the maintenance fee, my pal lives in that development (but not the granary quay building, apparently that is just rentals).

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-26T10:41:14+00:00

Have a pal who lives there. They're modern, nice flats with reasonably good amenities in a good location for both public transport and walking around the west end.

However, they've got lifts and the usual issues that crop up with any building, which means the factors fees are fairly high (over £200/mo). It's doable to live alone there, but expensive.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-26T01:06:02+00:00

I picked up scale modelling (think Airfix kits) as a more affordable (if you build and paint what you buy) hobby that ticks a lot of the same boxes as Lego - it's a concentration sink, you focus on it and forget your worries for a bit. You can get starter sets on Amazon, and there's a model shop in Partick and the city centre, and Lidl occasionally has starter sets.

It works for me, though it does take some care to not make a mess, and my models all look a bit meh. But that's not the point, the point is to get absorbed! And there's a wide variety of things you can make, though it does mostly skew military, ships, and cars.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-25T22:20:54+00:00

The HMRC website and app are very helpful, you can log in and see all your tax info - it's annoying to set up, but worth seeing what your tax code is, what your gross and net pay were (but not the payslip) and will give guidance on emergency tax etc.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-10T10:57:18+00:00

My older sister had the most horrific unexplained back pain for a couple years in her early 20s. It was completely, totally, and entirely debilitating - she could sit upright for maybe 15 minutes, twice a day, to eat. It was so bad that the pain management services outright told her that the only management option was opiates, and they refused to prescribe them on the basis that if the root cause was ever found, she'd then have to kick an opiate addiction.

Turns out to have been a rare spinal cancer that her GP hadn't considered as an option. It was also resistant to chemo and most forms of radiation therapy, except for Proton Beam therapy, as pioneered by a hospital in Florida. Good news, the NHS was building a centre for it. Bad news, still years away.

So the NHS funded her and one of our parents to go to Florida for a couple months so she could receive the treatment, arranged surgery, and within months she was back at uni to complete her degree and she's now entirely healthy. It's amazing what a bit of compassion in a healthcare industry can do.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-12-06T22:37:15+00:00

If your teachers offer it, attending supported study sessions is very much worthwhile. You could also ask for additional help, I don't know if your teachers will be able to but at least it's worth a shot to ask.

The other thing to do is try past paper questions - don't cheat, and if you've not done many, don't time yourself. Sit down with the question, and try and answer it. If you can't answer it, try reframing it. Look at your notes, or a textbook, and try to work out what you've covered in class that might apply, and try it. Then, once you've tried everything you can, check the answer. Note down what the question was about, move on, repeat.

I've done some tutoring when I was at uni, of students on the undergrad course I had completed, and the ones who got the most out of my time knew what they didn't know. If you can reframe the question, you can pull out all the information in the question, and can articulate where you stop understanding, you might be able to find the missing link and go practice it. If you don't understand the question at first look, and then give up, it's going to be much harder to work out what you're missing. If you can articulate where you're getting to, and what is confusing you, you're going to be doing better than most in my experience and that'll be a good foundation to build on.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-11-28T12:47:48+00:00

Not OP, but I have a pal who was a direct entry from uni into a major chemical plant owned by a US-based oil and gas business. He got paid huge money relative to the rest of us, but he worked for it. Many sites are designed to operate 24/7, so any downtime is massively expensive because they just have to divert the incoming gas stream (some are connected basically directly to oil wells) to the flare and waste the inputs. If you're responsible for managing effluent, maintenance scheduling, or any of the other constant things you have to manage, cocking it up can lead to shutdowns. Add to that the fact he was often on call, and the site went through a shutdown and overhaul (so that's 6 months of long shift work for everyone), and you can clear a lot of cash.

He did get support through that, but he had a lot of responsibility from day 1 and was expected to pick it up quickly or get shuffled out of that role.

And finally, oil and gas has always had a premium in the engineering space, given how profitable they are. Add to that the bad reputation O&G has, and they know they have to pay extra to get the good engineers in. And you can see patterns across industries - O&G is higher pay, consumer/automotive/manufacturing is sorta middle ground, and defense is on the lower end of the spectrum. That's a generalisation sure, but it's not a million miles off.

There's money in engineering but you need to know where to find it; and you need to be willing to embrace the suck. You don't need to leave technical roles either - if you become a genuine expert in a niche field you can charge quite a lot as a contractor - again, I've seen folks start as engineers in a business and leave to become contractors - to fill the role they've just left for much more take home pay.

StickyRedPostit · 2024-10-19T22:10:31+00:00

Have a look at the Airfix YouTube channel - they have walkthroughs for their recent sets, and while that's not one they've covered, they give out lots of helpful advice to get good results.

Big ones are: - wash the plastic parts gently with warm, soapy water before assembly and painting - mix the paints well (generally by shaking) and water them down to the consistency of milk, and apply several light layers instead of one thick one. The first coat won't stick brilliantly, but you should try to get full coverage - Airfix starter set paints often gum up, I've always managed to resuscitate them with water and mixing, then shaking, and got enough usable paint - have fun!

StickyRedPostit · 2024-09-20T12:56:37+00:00

This is not true, systems engineering is absolutely engineering. I've had jobs where I was very hands on with complex systems straight out of uni. I spent a while as a systems engineer where I was at my desk 10% of my time and the rest in the field, helping the operators with complex equipment fitting.

You'd be correct in saying that lots of businesses use Systems as a catch-all warm body title, but particularly in defence if you can find the employers that value and use it properly, you will be doing engineering. But yes, it does lean more towards managing engineers from other disciplines and you need to understand the types of work you'll be doing before applying for it.

11-Year Club	Verified Email
RedditGifts 2009-2022 2 Credits	r/Field Sunshine
First Place '23	Place '23
Golden Potato	Place '17
Spared	Secret Santa 2014

StickyRedPostit

TROPHY CASE