Time for "Defense extreme (DX)" on everything!

"Right now, we need a better solution for the thousands of drones which are being produced every year. We need a good solution for the new hypersonic missiles. To ensure the safety of the fleet as well as the homeland, we need to think in the future and not in the present."    

I spent about 25 years of my civilian working life as a government contractor. It was a good life - I learned a lot, traveled a lot, and negotiated a lot. One of the things I learned while working with the US Government was this - every order had a DOD priority on it. It was called the DPAS System which stood for Defense Priority and Allocation System. Most orders I had were normal in their DPAS ratings. Once in a while however, I received a DX rated order. The "DX" stood for Defense Extreme, and it always went to the top of the pile.

Yesterday, the president had about half dozen or so of our largest defense contractors at the White House for an "SOS" meeting. It is no secret that between supplying Ukraine (mostly under Biden) with weapons and ammo, and now with the war on Iran, our ammo and missile inventory is getting a bit sparce. Even though we keep saying that we are good, I really wonder how good we are. With the meeting yesterday, I think we might not be that good at all.

Trump asked the CEOs who were present at the White House yesterday to really jump start their production rate. Like double it? That is a huge favor to ask! Nope - he wants everybody present yesterday to sign up to ramp up to a fourfold increase in production. The president said he would eliminate as many of the middlemen as possible as well as get rid of needless regulations. When the meeting was over, all left with the agreement it shall be done.

The one item I am the most concerned about is our Standard Missile (SM) 3. This is the bad boy which is fired from a VLS (Vertical Launch System) to take out high flying ballistic missiles. We have wasted many of these million dollars plus missiles on cheap drones. These missiles (I worked at BAE when the SM 3 was being developed) are very effective. But - they are also very expensive and are now becoming a bit scarce. 

For those who work for a defense contractor, the days ahead might be filled with "pedal to the metal" type of work. But it is important work. Right now, we need a better solution for the thousands of drones which are being produced every year. We need a good solution for the new hypersonic missiles. To ensure the safety of the fleet as well as the homeland, we need to think in the future and not in the present.