I don't think any of the bad things Lockheed has done is unique to Lockheed, I think that Lockheed is one of the most prominent players that do these things and that people villainize Lockheed because they go "Weapons manufacturer/Military industrial complex = bad" when the reality is actually much more complicated than that.
Our "average infantryman" sure has done a lot of research above his pay grade in the defense industry for us, and for that we are appreciative of our "average infantryman's" efforts and results . Thanks Chris for all you do.
I was really impressed with this rendering of the military industrial landscape. Even as a very young child (6 or 7) at a military air show here in Scotland, my father who had been a RCAF pilot officer began talking about about the Lockheed Starfighter and about how many German pilots it had killed. How the bribes were to get a bad product onto the market. One mis-comment by Chris is that the Starfighter was the first to do mach-2, the English Electric Lightning with which it directly competed could do mach-1 in a vertical climb. This lightning beat the starfighter in all categories in tests, except low level acceleration where they were equal. Thus Lockheed killed many pilots through bribing their paymasters to purchase a second rate product necessary for the defence against the Soviet air force. Ultimately this event denoted the separation of the sheep from the goats.
@@SerpkoBakotiinii I had expected him to be supported by a team, as well as for other interested parties to lend support. That is the way of things in all complex arenas. Hwe does refer to the 'spare parts army'.
I used to work for Lockheed Martin. The corporate culture there was very strict. They used to watch over your shoulder to make sure that you used a scale to weigh out the toppings for every single pizza. And greater number the toppings a pizza had, the less of each topping you were supposed to weigh out. Wait, was that Lockheed Martin? I think it might have been Dominos
As someone from a US ally state I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in making these videos and how they frame these issues in a relatively fair point of view
@@hashbrownz1999 US ally helps distinguish between those who are allies but could potentially go their own way if they got their s together (us in the EU) and literal vassals like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Hey Cappy I wanna say I love these longer, more critical dives into contemporary military topics that you've been doing more lately. So refreshing to hear someone with experience in the military recognise that while these are complex issues, there are clearly problems with the military industrial complex and the way it is intertwined with government. Keep it up!
@@jeremyl862 Perun goes MUCH deeper than Cappy on such subjects as these, but Cappy has a deeper perspective on, for instance, individual weapons. Should be expected given their respective backgrounds.
The Admiral's criticism of "Privatizing profits and socializing losses" is exactly the right criticism. I'm a bug free market guy, but when the government bails a company out like they did with Lockheed and starts using taxpayer dollars to prop up a company, it stops being a free market and stops being capitalism. People blame capitalism for the military industrial complex keeping wars going, but such problems wouldn't be possible without the government being in on it.
You're in for a rough awakening when you realize that Megacorps buying out governments, and using both the government and their own power to shut down/buy out any and all competition is the natural course for the evolution of Capitalism.
I've worked for the machine for 16+ years now and the interesting thing about the defense industry is all these companies are where they are because of buying up competitors or merging as with Lockheed and Martin Meritta Aerospace. Same with all the large defense companies they are formed by dozens and dozens of mergers, picking up new technologies and markets. If you look at the history of military contracting KBR's origins are during WWII providing logistics, clothing, and food to the military, Lear Seigler Services now part of URS Corp provided aircraft mechanics in Vietnam. Raytheon has their hands in everything also. And even major defense companies are involved in non-military stuff such as Space, Civilian Aviation and Maritime. When you dive into the history of Lockheed, Raytheon, BAE, General Dynamics, DynCorp, KBR, General Dynamics and a ton of other companies its pretty interesting in everything they do and alot of technology we use today that was developed and pioneered by them.
All these companies are where they are because of corrupting politicians in Europe and Asia to buy there crap while killing the ones that get in your way and over up all your failure perfect exemple of this is the F-104 and the F-35 sales for Lockheed
Worked for Martin Marietta Aerospace in the 1970's before the Lockheed merger - it was the 8th-largest defense contractor, not the third when it happened in 1995. Interesting twist on the "merger" frenzy - Hughes Aircraft was owned up until 1986 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a non-profit which existed solely on the proceeds from Hughes Aircraft. The IRS cast its greedy eyes on those profits and forced the sale of HAC to General Motors, a terrible fit for an Aerospace company. Prior to that time our labs were the best and funding for research was plentiful as long as we kept the Medical Institute happy (remember the first working laser was made in a Hughes lab). After the sale, funds for much independent work went down the tubes. Then, in 1997, after we beat Raytheon for the AIM-9X (upgraded Sidewinder missile) competition, Raytheon went deep into debt and bought the whole Hughes defense and aerospace business from a now-wiser GM. Ownership by Mass-based Raytheon, another corrupt Lockheed-style company, was another step down. I retired thankfully before the United Tech-Raytheon merger, but from what I hear from friends still working there, it's even worse now. There is likely an optimum size and level of competition for efficiency and minimum corruption, and it's presently well past that. Kind of like having only two major political parties - a big mistake.
better not ! there is enough high function autism in his fan base to coordinate an ass whoopin where ever they may hide. he is our average infantryman !
He hasn’t said anything that’s not public information, also has praised them more than he criticized, they’re not some evil corporation but a necessary corporation in need of oversight and legal accountability
Bro Ike Eisenhower warned us about all this. An ex military general and supreme commander of allied forces came out and said WE need to be aware of outside influences along with influence from our own military industrial complex
I instantly compared it to the second amendment, where the checks on the first part are then said. Removing a check and balance on the machine - through leaving that part out through historical reference and quotes has led to the bad side of the industry taking hold, being two sides of the coin necessary to it's existence though decades of encroachment into politics.
Chris, this is the best thing you've done. This is exactly where I'm at, ideologically speaking. Not partisan, but seeking the truth. Your work is nuanced, well-thought out, and compelling. Most of what I see on RUclips is over-simplified and deterministic. The Leftist and Rightist biases are only too evident, and I often feel like I'd do better taking a dramamine before I watch. I'm so used to it, I don't even think about the myopia of these pieces when I hit the like button, which I do, because my expectations are low. But I want to take all those likes back now. This is what defense reporting _should_ be. No one is a bigger admirer of Lockheed's history than me. Clarence Johnson was a legend. Everybody knows this. But there are real issues at stake here, and we cannot afford to turn a blind eye. Well done and keep up the great work!
Brilliant article! Same has happened here in Australia. the only difference is the Australian tax payer owned our defence industries and our governments sold them off (to foreign owned corporations). Now we are engaged in the biggest defence spending ever! And at the same time everything else is falling apart! Thanks for again showing the risks of the Military Industrial complex. Cheers
@@Dinglesmckringles No. The biggest conflict of interest is when the head of the government owns a corporate entity whose only customer is the government.
For the last 20 or so years it’s all about making political decisions- when a certain American truck company threatened to shut down its production line - the contract was awarded to supply trucks to that company that were totally unsuitable for the proposed role so new ones were invented! Ships were built that turned out to be useless, helicopters as well (on the promise of some assembly in this country etc etc Now that is a conflict of interest!
@@Dinglesmckringles Australia is in a difficult position. Our wages are among the highest in the world, and we're 500 miles from Indonesia, who have some of the lowest wages in the World, so Manufacturing is an incredibly hard field to compete in. Up until the turn of the century we were using British Oberon Class Submarines. But they had technology the British refused to share, so every 5 years each Sub had to return to the UK for overhauling. Hardly a situation you want in a War. We built our own Collins Class Submarines for the next generation, and, as with all new Military tech, they had teething problems, and were way over Budget and Overtime. We recently ended up pulling out of a $90 Billion Dollar Submarine Contract with the French, and created AUKUS for similar reasons. French Subs use French Torpedoes, not American ones. While that Contract was Developing, China signed a Contract to buy $500 Billion worth of French Airbuses. If we got in conflict with China, would France sell us Torpedoes or Maintenance? Arleigh Burke Destroyers are too large for our requirements, so we built half size ones of those, the Hobart Class. Again, Billions over budget and time. Finally, we're now in a Partnership with the UK and Canada where we are all building versions of the UK's Type 26 Global Combat Ship. Hopefully, this being spanned across 3 Countries means we'll share development costs, and have a Global Network of Harbours where Maintenance can be done. All this work is performed by Private Enterprise, but they are Private Companies who have only One Contract, and that's with the Government. BAE, Lockheed and Raytheon are all Partners who get paid well to establish Manufacturing here. The Type 26 is a Boat that we're hopeful will have an export market to Partners in South East Asia and elsewhere. That said, South Korea is one of the largest Ship-Builders in the World, and an exporter of their own Fine Weapons. South Korea's Shipbuilding, like Hyundai and Samsung, are heavily subsidised by the South Korean Government though. More so than we do.
You're reports are exceptionally good. I look forward to them all, I think you do a great jobs of sharing both sides of a story. Reminds me of the late-night television of smart men talking in front of a black screen. Thanks for the insights Cappie!
A nicely balanced overview, despite some historical errors about aircraft. They are doing essential work, but they are people who need oversight. Have you considered a similar video on Boeing and its relationship with McDonnell-Douglas? That is an interesting series of acquisitions and mergers.
You do an awesome job presenting interesting and important information Chris. You put the mainstream media's so called, "investigative reporters" to shame.
The P-38 Lightning was flown by the top two highest scoring USAAF aces in WW2 (Richard Bong-40 victories, Thomas McGuire-38 victories). It was a legendary fighter plane.
Big fan of the channel especially with being former Army. I work in aviation and only have to correct a few things. 1st the civilian passenger aircraft is called the L ten eleven. 2nd that was a DC-8 not DC-10. DC-8 is a quad jet(4 engines) that competed with the Boeing 707/720. The DC-10/MD-11 were tri jets(3 engines) and were the biggest competitors of the L1011.
Nerd(s) alert. Haha good catch mates, appreciate the precision and admit idk a MD-11 from a CH-53, let alone a L ten eleven lol. Well okay... that might not have been a great example, but I think you know what I'm talkin' about. 😉
Absolutely outstanding! Kudos for your willingness to bring this issue out into the light and discuss it. Though I'm an enthusiastic proponent of the "Big Stick" philosophy I'm also a Vietnam vet and as such am convinced that citizen involvement is essential to keeping our country on the right side of any armed conflict and related processes. Thanks again for your efforts.
Living a few miles from the birthplace of every C-130 in the world, I have a warm feeling for Lockheed. I drilled at the adjoining Air Reserve Base for 15 years.
Superb informative and well balanced overview Chris. In most other countries "Lobbying" would be stamped out as corruption... they do need to be held to a higher standard.
"The Power Elite" by C. Wright Mills is an often overlooked work that is even more relevant today that when it was published in 1956 and probably had influence on Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address when he addresses the Industrial Military Complex.
War is a racket and the power elite are both warnings that few even know about ! Was Ike just covering his tracks in his MIC speech on the way out the door ?
As a big fan of the P-38, I'm just sad it only had one 20mm. I feel like it if it had 2x 20mm and 4x .50 cals it would've been a death ray plane. But probably that extra 20mm would make it a little too nose heavy and mess up some of the flight characteristics
Seen different takes on this idea, the gist of it is as you said trim characteristics would have to be massively re-engineered to deal with that much push back from that arsenal. Moreover there isnt even room for that much ammo so you would empty your entire stock pretty fast, so the middle ground is to have 1 good gun on a fast maneuvering and efficient plane
I am surprised you didn’t bring up Lockheed buying Sikorsky Aircraft (one of the future vertical lift competitors) and then partnered up with Bell (the other future vertical lift competitor). They win either way. It was just announced that Bell/Lockheed won the contract. (This is what will replace the Blackhawk).
At what point will government need to consider breaking up LM similar to what happened to Bell Telephone or Standard Oil due to issues with a monopoly in the industry?
@@briancavanagh7048 as long as Boeing and Northrop exist . They won't break lm up . Most likely in future , ftc will start to deny them acquisition licences stating monopoly practises or anti competitive practises
It's just a state-run defense organization posing as a private company. There are a lot of organizations now that are enjoying the benefits of operating as a trust and near monopoly, and they aren't broken up because the gains from the monolith model combined with industrialization and economies of scale are deemed too worthwhile. I think maybe we've gotten a bit too greedy and complacent.
@@briancavanagh7048 There's no need to because they aren't a monopoly, sure they're a large and very diverse company, but large companies aren't necessarily monopolistic in nature. This isn't to say wide companies can't be bad, but for them to be bad the company basically has to sit in a position where they completely dominate the entire economy, ala asian mega corporations like Samsung or Mitsubishi.
Lockheed is a private company but many who work and manage for them are former military. The truth is lockheed is only a few government documents away from being a government agency.
Very measured and insightful take on the subject, thanks Cappy. The most important thing is really the alert and informed citizenry. No process or law is ever going to prevent corruption. The only way to hold government and parastatals accountable is to have level-headed, fair minded, alert and active citizens.
Fantastic video, probably your best video yet. People often overlook the fact that this company gets recurring payments every year, in which they are not committed to. Meaning they will go back to the government and get more money, and because of the lack of competition, and rising cost of development, the government has little choice but to pay them. At the same time, the taxpayer is actually funding some (if not all) of the development of any of their new products... The government needs to actually pay companies like Lockheed to actually work on new things ... I just fundamentally don't believe that can be true, while still believing that they are really looking out for America's best interests. At the absolute very least, the government needs to stop these companies from buying their competition, or working together on a single bid. Lockheed probably didn't care if the SB-1 or the v-280 won the army contract, because they are making money from both of them.
"lockheed martin became the walmart of the defense industry" As a temporary representative of noncredibledefense, lockmart will forgive your criticisms of the military industrial complex and will be giving a bonus instead. on the real though, I appreciate the nuanced message of promoting responsibility in checking the defense industry. As america has by far the most potent accountability measures in military corruption compared to say Russia or China whose corruption affects their defense potential. I also never actually knew the full context of Eisenhower's farewell address.
The Lockheed P3-C, one of the best Anti Submarine Aircraft ever built. It helped keep tabs on Russian Ballistic Missile Submarines. Used by Australia around the world to Norway. It was on scene from the Cuban Missile Crisis and over the skies of Afghanistan.
martin was a different aircraft company that was huge. they made the martin mars a massive flying boat that is still being used as a water bomber. they also made the monorail system for disney land.
I'm very impressed with your work. I was already aware of the details of your topic and your summary was concise and precise without fanfare or theartics. I'm also impressed by the depth and breadth of your topics and subject matter in general, hency my subscription. Good job well done,
Chris, can you do a report on Union Carbide? They are another large government contractor that deals with chemicals, etc. This company has caused more tragic deaths from faulty or downright criminal management than any other company I have ever heard of. Btw, Lloyd Austin is a company man who has always protected his own interests in my opinion, at least this is what I saw of him when I worked under his command in Afghanistan.
And as a LM employee, let me tell you, we are forced to go through an astounding amount of ethics and "compliance training" and testing EVERY DAMN YEAR to address all these things you're complaining about.
It's just a dog and pony show for LM to claim "hey look, we take ethics very seriously" Do you think the CEO and top management are forced to take that training and testing as well? or what? they'll be fired?
Former LM guy here: I've worked in Defense for over 35 years and various companies, large and small. I spent 15 years with Lockheed and have found them to be the 'Boy Scouts' of Defense Contractors in the way they do business.
People often reference Eisenhower about the military industrial complex but Two time Medal of Honor General Smedley Butler wrote a book on it called War is a Racket. The first empire building we did and kicked off the Spanish American War where we “acquired “ the Philippines. Look up USS Maine boilers exploded in Cuba port and we blamed Spain.
My Grandpa was a brickie, but during the war he trained pilots (imagine a brickie today who's a pilot in his spare time, go figure). When he showed me his identification manual, I was instantly drawn to the p38 as my favorite. The dual fuselage looked awesome. Apparently, judging by it's service record, my impression was on the money. Also fuck the MIC
Nah the MIC is important, which is why we REALLY need to keep an eye on it so that its not tipping the balance in governments. Like what cappy said, you want it to defend against our enemies but you don’t want it to extend conflicts for profit
@@leonardusrakapradayan2253 the MIC has done nothing but keep America tied up in war or war spending for zero good reason. And I firmly believe the reason they were fine with getting out of Afghanistan is because they knew within a year the US would be involved in supplying weapons to the Ukrainians
As an Italian, so Living in a country where corruption is a big issue, I always find funny the use of "lobbying". To me it just seems a way to glorify and legitimated corruption. I would like to know what USA citizens reading my comment think of that
It sucks but it is also impossible to change, politicians like the money they get, lobbying firms like making money off the process, and the companies doing lobbying like influencing the government. My aunt actually owns a lobbying firm in D.C. that has done work for Lockheed and I work for one of the other prime contractors. I don't like it but given my position I don't have many choices...
I enjoy nearly everything that you guys produce. Your research people have really shined as of late. Your newest videos are different, but stay within what I recognize as your mission. This was your best work to date. Thank you.
We've had total regulatory capture by major financial institutions in the United States since at least the early 90s. This is a very important topic to unpack.
Thoroughly enjoyed this lil history lesson. Love hearing about the military industrial complex. This is not your average infantryman, this is a freaking historian.
They make some good stuff lol We love what our MIC does and we shouldn't apologize for this. The MIC is interesting but ultimately is necessary to preserve our advantages. I applaud you for talking about this. No wonder you have gotten so yuge. This channel is one of the most important drivers of recruitment and interest in our military. You are doing great work, but have no doubt that the MIC of the USA is absolutely top tier. Someone even suggested a VPN sponsor of yours to convert 4th gen fighters with a toggle switch that allows them to go Gen 5 with a simple affiliate link, saving taxpayers untold hundreds of dollars. Perhaps even 0.001%/operating hour in expense savings. Ridge Wallet? We will look for an angle for you on that one. It must be a helluva thing
this is why i think america will be okay in the long run, cause the country allows videos like this to circulate to inform the public so they're aware unlike authoritarian countries like china, russia, saudi and iran where any kind of criticism is met with censorship so instead of healing the corruption festers until it blews up on your face. Thanks for this video, keep it coming!
Haven’t you seen the twitter files that were released, showing how the FBI, CIA, NSA and other government agencies, directly interfered and suppressed information on Twitter and other big tech platforms? I agree with you, we definitely have it better than other countries, however our government is sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong.
Well I think America is in a position where if obvious censorship is shown, it's probably gonna bring up international controversies. And it may be seen as hypocritical to most people which would lead them to a worst situation.
The audio in this one was rough. There were a handful of really distorted sections, along with the usual changes for parts of the video which were recorded at different times. Really enjoy the videos overall though!
The companies give the money to think tanks so that they create studies that influence public perception and most importantly the politician's. They can also give the money to politician's campaigns so that later they owe a favor. It's convoluted but it still corruption like you say.
Thanks for watching spare parts army. Get up to 40% off with my link ridge.com/taskandpurpose from now until December 22nd!
Lockheed Martin keeps saying they put lasers on aircraft by 2030…do you think they are bluffing ???
I don't think any of the bad things Lockheed has done is unique to Lockheed, I think that Lockheed is one of the most prominent players that do these things and that people villainize Lockheed because they go "Weapons manufacturer/Military industrial complex = bad" when the reality is actually much more complicated than that.
im still upset for that sinfull , untruthfull M113 video :( Thank you
One of your best videos.
@@Kkakdugii yeah but Landsat 6 failed because of .... WHO KNOWS why !!! :(
Eisenhower was RIGHT ! Landsat program stands out as a LESSON to learn
Our "average infantryman" sure has done a lot of research above his pay grade in the defense industry for us, and for that we are appreciative of our "average infantryman's" efforts and results . Thanks Chris for all you do.
You go Chris!
I was really impressed with this rendering of the military industrial landscape. Even as a very young child (6 or 7) at a military air show here in Scotland, my father who had been a RCAF pilot officer began talking about about the Lockheed Starfighter and about how many German pilots it had killed. How the bribes were to get a bad product onto the market. One mis-comment by Chris is that the Starfighter was the first to do mach-2, the English Electric Lightning with which it directly competed could do mach-1 in a vertical climb. This lightning beat the starfighter in all categories in tests, except low level acceleration where they were equal. Thus Lockheed killed many pilots through bribing their paymasters to purchase a second rate product necessary for the defence against the Soviet air force. Ultimately this event denoted the separation of the sheep from the goats.
Do you really think that all this text was not made by this guy, but by smart guys from the Pentagon for propaganda? Noway!
Agreed. Well done Chris!
@@SerpkoBakotiinii I had expected him to be supported by a team, as well as for other interested parties to lend support. That is the way of things in all complex arenas. Hwe does refer to the 'spare parts army'.
I know I've heard somebody say, "you can't always tell where Lockheed stops and the government begins."
I used to work for Lockheed Martin. The corporate culture there was very strict. They used to watch over your shoulder to make sure that you used a scale to weigh out the toppings for every single pizza. And greater number the toppings a pizza had, the less of each topping you were supposed to weigh out. Wait, was that Lockheed Martin? I think it might have been Dominos
Lockheed Martin: Achieving world pizza
@@JustAnotherAccount8 And this without whirling any peas.
Hey, at leasy your products work with minimal failure in return.
@@UnknownOps This is a lie. My friend's pizza from dominos the other day had all the olives in 1 pile on 1 slice.
It was Lockheed martin
As someone from a US ally state I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in making these videos and how they frame these issues in a relatively fair point of view
As a US citizen, someone calling themselves a citizen of a US ally state really nails the vague idea of an empire into my head
@@hashbrownz1999 US ally helps distinguish between those who are allies but could potentially go their own way if they got their s together (us in the EU) and literal vassals like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
@@fedyx1544 Right on and... it's quite simply that, really. Cheers mates @hashbrownz1999
Someone using existing fiction to market portions of the slave system isnt a point of view even if you/other market it in that way.
Hey Cappy I wanna say I love these longer, more critical dives into contemporary military topics that you've been doing more lately. So refreshing to hear someone with experience in the military recognise that while these are complex issues, there are clearly problems with the military industrial complex and the way it is intertwined with government. Keep it up!
Hey! What was that jingling noise?
Check out Perun then. You'll love him.
@@jeremyl862 seconded. Perun is great. Anyone who likes these videos will love Perun.
@@jeremyl862 Perun goes MUCH deeper than Cappy on such subjects as these, but Cappy has a deeper perspective on, for instance, individual weapons. Should be expected given their respective backgrounds.
thanks I'm trying out new topics and seeing how deep we can dive into some issues . glad to hear you like it !
I'm really liking the amount of time and effort you guys are putting into researching these topics. It really shows
It's a big channel, he no doubt has a team like all other channels- researcher, writer, editor, etc. He's just the pretty face.
@@ruthnoya8424he literally said “you guys”
From flying boats to Stealth fighter aircraft
Lockheed is impressive
They Made more money at war than peace time, wonder why America is always at war
@Avg gymbro lockheed just wants those dollars
Considering the cost overruns on those fighters they really know how to rape the taxpayer
What about getting idiots like cappy to pretend they were fighting for freedoms in middle Eastern countries that's the real trick
They just seem like they could be a little cheaper?
The Admiral's criticism of "Privatizing profits and socializing losses" is exactly the right criticism. I'm a bug free market guy, but when the government bails a company out like they did with Lockheed and starts using taxpayer dollars to prop up a company, it stops being a free market and stops being capitalism. People blame capitalism for the military industrial complex keeping wars going, but such problems wouldn't be possible without the government being in on it.
It’s Communism with extra steps.
sounds a lot like communism to me
Exactly
You're in for a rough awakening when you realize that Megacorps buying out governments, and using both the government and their own power to shut down/buy out any and all competition is the natural course for the evolution of Capitalism.
Tell that to adversaries of USA. Russia and China would do anything to have Lockheed Martin Raytheon of their own.
I've worked for the machine for 16+ years now and the interesting thing about the defense industry is all these companies are where they are because of buying up competitors or merging as with Lockheed and Martin Meritta Aerospace. Same with all the large defense companies they are formed by dozens and dozens of mergers, picking up new technologies and markets. If you look at the history of military contracting KBR's origins are during WWII providing logistics, clothing, and food to the military, Lear Seigler Services now part of URS Corp provided aircraft mechanics in Vietnam. Raytheon has their hands in everything also. And even major defense companies are involved in non-military stuff such as Space, Civilian Aviation and Maritime. When you dive into the history of Lockheed, Raytheon, BAE, General Dynamics, DynCorp, KBR, General Dynamics and a ton of other companies its pretty interesting in everything they do and alot of technology we use today that was developed and pioneered by them.
You forgot Dick Cheney’s Haliburton which is an umbrella company with many companies under it which KBR happens to be just one.
All these companies are where they are because of corrupting politicians in Europe and Asia to buy there crap while killing the ones that get in your way and over up all your failure perfect exemple of this is the F-104 and the F-35 sales for Lockheed
Microsoft be like: "All your game studios/publisher are belong to us."
@@whereswaldo5740 And KBR poisoned our Marines in Iraq with highly contaminated water.
Worked for Martin Marietta Aerospace in the 1970's before the Lockheed merger - it was the 8th-largest defense contractor, not the third when it happened in 1995.
Interesting twist on the "merger" frenzy - Hughes Aircraft was owned up until 1986 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a non-profit which existed solely on the proceeds from Hughes Aircraft. The IRS cast its greedy eyes on those profits and forced the sale of HAC to General Motors, a terrible fit for an Aerospace company. Prior to that time our labs were the best and funding for research was plentiful as long as we kept the Medical Institute happy (remember the first working laser was made in a Hughes lab). After the sale, funds for much independent work went down the tubes.
Then, in 1997, after we beat Raytheon for the AIM-9X (upgraded Sidewinder missile) competition, Raytheon went deep into debt and bought the whole Hughes defense and aerospace business from a now-wiser GM. Ownership by Mass-based Raytheon, another corrupt Lockheed-style company, was another step down. I retired thankfully before the United Tech-Raytheon merger, but from what I hear from friends still working there, it's even worse now. There is likely an optimum size and level of competition for efficiency and minimum corruption, and it's presently well past that. Kind of like having only two major political parties - a big mistake.
I have NEVER heard Eisenhowers full quote!!!! Totally different meaning with that second part!
I'm really proud of your bravery, Cappy. I'm sure the Military Industrial Complex has no intention of making you disappear.
better not ! there is enough high function autism in his fan base to coordinate an ass whoopin where ever they may hide. he is our average infantryman !
He's on the payroll lol
He hasn’t said anything that’s not public information, also has praised them more than he criticized, they’re not some evil corporation but a necessary corporation in need of oversight and legal accountability
@@hannahtavana You hit the nail on the head. I would start by shutting down their lobbying.
That crossed my mind the moment I saw the title. Welp, GG - it was fun while it lasted.
Bro Ike Eisenhower warned us about all this. An ex military general and supreme commander of allied forces came out and said WE need to be aware of outside influences along with influence from our own military industrial complex
Really really appreciate you talking about the full context of Eisenhower's MIC speech, many others choose to ignore the most important part after it.
I instantly compared it to the second amendment, where the checks on the first part are then said. Removing a check and balance on the machine - through leaving that part out through historical reference and quotes has led to the bad side of the industry taking hold, being two sides of the coin necessary to it's existence though decades of encroachment into politics.
Chris, this is the best thing you've done. This is exactly where I'm at, ideologically speaking. Not partisan, but seeking the truth. Your work is nuanced, well-thought out, and compelling.
Most of what I see on RUclips is over-simplified and deterministic. The Leftist and Rightist biases are only too evident, and I often feel like I'd do better taking a dramamine before I watch. I'm so used to it, I don't even think about the myopia of these pieces when I hit the like button, which I do, because my expectations are low.
But I want to take all those likes back now. This is what defense reporting _should_ be. No one is a bigger admirer of Lockheed's history than me. Clarence Johnson was a legend. Everybody knows this. But there are real issues at stake here, and we cannot afford to turn a blind eye.
Well done and keep up the great work!
You should check out the channel called “Perun”. Not as entertaining as Cappy, but amazingly thorough and well explained stuff
Very well written, callenclarke371…and yes, Perun is fantastic.
Brilliant article! Same has happened here in Australia. the only difference is the Australian tax payer owned our defence industries and our governments sold them off (to foreign owned corporations). Now we are engaged in the biggest defence spending ever! And at the same time everything else is falling apart!
Thanks for again showing the risks of the Military Industrial complex.
Cheers
That's completely insane, it's the biggest conflict of interest there could be.
@@Dinglesmckringles No. The biggest conflict of interest is when the head of the government owns a corporate entity whose only customer is the government.
For the last 20 or so years it’s all about making political decisions- when a certain American truck company threatened to shut down its production line - the contract was awarded to supply trucks to that company that were totally unsuitable for the proposed role so new ones were invented!
Ships were built that turned out to be useless, helicopters as well (on the promise of some assembly in this country etc etc Now that is a conflict of interest!
@@Dinglesmckringles Australia is in a difficult position. Our wages are among the highest in the world, and we're 500 miles from Indonesia, who have some of the lowest wages in the World, so Manufacturing is an incredibly hard field to compete in. Up until the turn of the century we were using British Oberon Class Submarines. But they had technology the British refused to share, so every 5 years each Sub had to return to the UK for overhauling. Hardly a situation you want in a War. We built our own Collins Class Submarines for the next generation, and, as with all new Military tech, they had teething problems, and were way over Budget and Overtime. We recently ended up pulling out of a $90 Billion Dollar Submarine Contract with the French, and created AUKUS for similar reasons. French Subs use French Torpedoes, not American ones. While that Contract was Developing, China signed a Contract to buy $500 Billion worth of French Airbuses. If we got in conflict with China, would France sell us Torpedoes or Maintenance?
Arleigh Burke Destroyers are too large for our requirements, so we built half size ones of those, the Hobart Class. Again, Billions over budget and time. Finally, we're now in a Partnership with the UK and Canada where we are all building versions of the UK's Type 26 Global Combat Ship. Hopefully, this being spanned across 3 Countries means we'll share development costs, and have a Global Network of Harbours where Maintenance can be done.
All this work is performed by Private Enterprise, but they are Private Companies who have only One Contract, and that's with the Government. BAE, Lockheed and Raytheon are all Partners who get paid well to establish Manufacturing here. The Type 26 is a Boat that we're hopeful will have an export market to Partners in South East Asia and elsewhere. That said, South Korea is one of the largest Ship-Builders in the World, and an exporter of their own Fine Weapons. South Korea's Shipbuilding, like Hyundai and Samsung, are heavily subsidised by the South Korean Government though. More so than we do.
The expansion of China with its population obesity has its obvious eye upon the sparsely populated Oz continent. If you want peace, prepare for war.
You're reports are exceptionally good.
I look forward to them all,
I think you do a great jobs of sharing both sides of a story.
Reminds me of the late-night television of smart men talking in front of a black screen.
Thanks for the insights Cappie!
A nicely balanced overview, despite some historical errors about aircraft. They are doing essential work, but they are people who need oversight.
Have you considered a similar video on Boeing and its relationship with McDonnell-Douglas? That is an interesting series of acquisitions and mergers.
You do an awesome job presenting interesting and important information Chris. You put the mainstream media's so called, "investigative reporters" to shame.
Sir Cappington III, this was your best work yet. Well done mate.
The P-38 Lightning was flown by the top two highest scoring USAAF aces in WW2 (Richard Bong-40 victories, Thomas McGuire-38 victories). It was a legendary fighter plane.
Big fan of the channel especially with being former Army. I work in aviation and only have to correct a few things. 1st the civilian passenger aircraft is called the L ten eleven. 2nd that was a DC-8 not DC-10. DC-8 is a quad jet(4 engines) that competed with the Boeing 707/720. The DC-10/MD-11 were tri jets(3 engines) and were the biggest competitors of the L1011.
As a mechanic that worked on them it really hurt hearing him not say L-ten-eleven.....
@@bhess1212 yeah it hurts a little
Nerd(s) alert. Haha good catch mates, appreciate the precision and admit idk a MD-11 from a CH-53, let alone a L ten eleven lol.
Well okay... that might not have been a great example, but I think you know what I'm talkin' about. 😉
@@soarabove337 . What the FUNK are you talking about, kid??!😉
Absolutely outstanding! Kudos for your willingness to bring this issue out into the light and discuss it. Though I'm an enthusiastic proponent of the "Big Stick" philosophy I'm also a Vietnam vet and as such am convinced that citizen involvement is essential to keeping our country on the right side of any armed conflict and related processes. Thanks again for your efforts.
Corporations are citizens
@@destroyerarmor2846 Persons perhaps, but not citizens. Atleast that's my extremely limited understanding of U.S. law.
Living a few miles from the birthplace of every C-130 in the world, I have a warm feeling for Lockheed. I drilled at the adjoining Air Reserve Base for 15 years.
yeah ....this while our countries become slaves of the FMI
Hope you croak :(
Lockheed and Nortthrope PRICING creates wars !
Love that someone with credibility, a military man, is taking in these important issues. One of the few people that can.
Each video is better than the last, and this is the best one yet. Keep up the improvements; you could end up being a major media outlet!
Superb informative and well balanced overview Chris. In most other countries "Lobbying" would be stamped out as corruption... they do need to be held to a higher standard.
like the lawfare actions by united states against france andd brazil? humm i see double standards here...
@@marcoaurelio4903 not disagreeing.
"The Power Elite" by C. Wright Mills is an often overlooked work that is even more relevant today that when it was published in 1956 and probably had influence on Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address when he addresses the Industrial Military Complex.
i would ARGUE (very bitterly) that Smedley Butler had an influence on Eisenhower
War is a racket and the power elite are both warnings that few even know about ! Was Ike just covering his tracks in his MIC speech on the way out the door ?
As a big fan of the P-38, I'm just sad it only had one 20mm. I feel like it if it had 2x 20mm and 4x .50 cals it would've been a death ray plane. But probably that extra 20mm would make it a little too nose heavy and mess up some of the flight characteristics
Seen different takes on this idea, the gist of it is as you said trim characteristics would have to be massively re-engineered to deal with that much push back from that arsenal. Moreover there isnt even room for that much ammo so you would empty your entire stock pretty fast, so the middle ground is to have 1 good gun on a fast maneuvering and efficient plane
Great video…..in my opinion, your best ever! Thoughtful and educational…well done.
CC, you just might win an award for best news broadcast! Thanks great info and necessary reminder!
Nice video with some subtle points and well thought out arguments, pointing out the benefits and dangers of a privatized military industry.
Lookit the big brain on Kappy! Truly, some pretty insightful and balanced analysis on a complex subject.
Might just be your best one yet Cappy, bravo.
I would love to see a series covering some of the other prime contractors! Keep up the good work
Thanks for the history lesson for the company I currently work for.
so jealous..i wish i was smart...would apply in a heartbeat
Nice bro 👍
Cool
The ccp thanks u for the info
@@kmilorestre5223 the CCP couldn't even replicate the technology if they tried.
I gotta say, this channel is evolving! I love this historic stuff. On the other hand I still enjoy the odd piece of military hardware.
I'll say this right now- Cappy didn't kill himself
This was one of the best ones yet ! love how you brought it back around to the Eisenhower quote by the end
I am surprised you didn’t bring up Lockheed buying Sikorsky Aircraft (one of the future vertical lift competitors) and then partnered up with Bell (the other future vertical lift competitor). They win either way. It was just announced that Bell/Lockheed won the contract. (This is what will replace the Blackhawk).
At what point will government need to consider breaking up LM similar to what happened to Bell Telephone or Standard Oil due to issues with a monopoly in the industry?
@@briancavanagh7048 as long as Boeing and Northrop exist . They won't break lm up . Most likely in future , ftc will start to deny them acquisition licences stating monopoly practises or anti competitive practises
It's just a state-run defense organization posing as a private company.
There are a lot of organizations now that are enjoying the benefits of operating as a trust and near monopoly, and they aren't broken up because the gains from the monolith model combined with industrialization and economies of scale are deemed too worthwhile. I think maybe we've gotten a bit too greedy and complacent.
@@briancavanagh7048 There's no need to because they aren't a monopoly, sure they're a large and very diverse company, but large companies aren't necessarily monopolistic in nature. This isn't to say wide companies can't be bad, but for them to be bad the company basically has to sit in a position where they completely dominate the entire economy, ala asian mega corporations like Samsung or Mitsubishi.
@@TheFriendlyInvader "The entire economy". I staunchly disagree, dominating a single industry should be enough grounds for anti-trust crackdown.
Lockheed is a private company but many who work and manage for them are former military. The truth is lockheed is only a few government documents away from being a government agency.
The amount of work and research you put into these videos is amazing!
It was super interesting. Well done Chris!
Very measured and insightful take on the subject, thanks Cappy. The most important thing is really the alert and informed citizenry. No process or law is ever going to prevent corruption. The only way to hold government and parastatals accountable is to have level-headed, fair minded, alert and active citizens.
Fantastic video, probably your best video yet. People often overlook the fact that this company gets recurring payments every year, in which they are not committed to. Meaning they will go back to the government and get more money, and because of the lack of competition, and rising cost of development, the government has little choice but to pay them. At the same time, the taxpayer is actually funding some (if not all) of the development of any of their new products... The government needs to actually pay companies like Lockheed to actually work on new things ... I just fundamentally don't believe that can be true, while still believing that they are really looking out for America's best interests.
At the absolute very least, the government needs to stop these companies from buying their competition, or working together on a single bid. Lockheed probably didn't care if the SB-1 or the v-280 won the army contract, because they are making money from both of them.
“Privatise profits socialise losses “ now where have I heard of that
Your work keeps getting better and better. Keep at it!
First video where the last line had me unironically shouting HOOAH! Thanks for all you do, Cappy and the team!
"lockheed martin became the walmart of the defense industry"
As a temporary representative of noncredibledefense, lockmart will forgive your criticisms of the military industrial complex and will be giving a bonus instead.
on the real though, I appreciate the nuanced message of promoting responsibility in checking the defense industry. As america has by far the most potent accountability measures in military corruption compared to say Russia or China whose corruption affects their defense potential. I also never actually knew the full context of Eisenhower's farewell address.
Love the longer format videos! Keep em coming 💪🏻
Top notch video. Good to see you making better and better content. Keep it up.
I appreciate your non-biassed and honest view on things.
The Lockheed P3-C, one of the best Anti Submarine Aircraft ever built. It helped keep tabs on Russian Ballistic Missile Submarines. Used by Australia around the world to Norway. It was on scene from the Cuban Missile Crisis and over the skies of Afghanistan.
Your videos are truely well balanced in their accessment of difficult topics that have people in favor or against of on both sides.
martin was a different aircraft company that was huge. they made the martin mars a massive flying boat that is still being used as a water bomber. they also made the monorail system for disney land.
I'm very impressed with your work. I was already aware of the details of your topic and your summary was concise and precise without fanfare or theartics. I'm also impressed by the depth and breadth of your topics and subject matter in general, hency my subscription. Good job well done,
This is really great stuff and provokes thought. We need more pieces like this so we can have these discussions. Great work Cappy and team!
Chris, can you do a report on Union Carbide? They are another large government contractor that deals with chemicals, etc. This company has caused more tragic deaths from faulty or downright criminal management than any other company I have ever heard of.
Btw, Lloyd Austin is a company man who has always protected his own interests in my opinion, at least this is what I saw of him when I worked under his command in Afghanistan.
They’re all out to protect their interests, above that of the country.
And as a LM employee, let me tell you, we are forced to go through an astounding amount of ethics and "compliance training" and testing EVERY DAMN YEAR to address all these things you're complaining about.
the price of being in bed with the government
You might, but your boss's bosses don't. Being corrupt is above your pay grade.
And also prolong, even cause wars. Isn’t that pure brilliance?
which is ironic since it's not rank and files doing the corruption here but the guys at the very top
It's just a dog and pony show for LM to claim "hey look, we take ethics very seriously" Do you think the CEO and top management are forced to take that training and testing as well? or what? they'll be fired?
Former LM guy here: I've worked in Defense for over 35 years and various companies, large and small. I spent 15 years with Lockheed and have found them to be the 'Boy Scouts' of Defense Contractors in the way they do business.
sounds cute and SAFE :)
HAVE YOU LOOKED INTO THE conditions that ASTRA workers live in ? and have to IMPROUVE and persevere
Excellent video. Thank you for putting it together.
People often reference Eisenhower about the military industrial complex but Two time Medal of Honor General Smedley Butler wrote a book on it called War is a Racket. The first empire building we did and kicked off the Spanish American War where we “acquired “ the Philippines. Look up USS Maine boilers exploded in Cuba port and we blamed Spain.
this is absolutely excellent, everybody should watch this video.
One of the more interesting videos that you’ve done. Nice job!
Thx for this extensive and detailed Lockheed documentary, very informative 👌
My Grandpa was a brickie, but during the war he trained pilots (imagine a brickie today who's a pilot in his spare time, go figure).
When he showed me his identification manual, I was instantly drawn to the p38 as my favorite. The dual fuselage looked awesome.
Apparently, judging by it's service record, my impression was on the money.
Also fuck the MIC
Nah the MIC is important, which is why we REALLY need to keep an eye on it so that its not tipping the balance in governments.
Like what cappy said, you want it to defend against our enemies but you don’t want it to extend conflicts for profit
@@leonardusrakapradayan2253 the MIC has done nothing but keep America tied up in war or war spending for zero good reason. And I firmly believe the reason they were fine with getting out of Afghanistan is because they knew within a year the US would be involved in supplying weapons to the Ukrainians
0:00 - 3:06 …
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Thanks for spending the time to create and share this content🤙🏾. Should do a video of the history of Big Tech to finish things off
As an Italian, so Living in a country where corruption is a big issue, I always find funny the use of "lobbying". To me it just seems a way to glorify and legitimated corruption.
I would like to know what USA citizens reading my comment think of that
It sucks but it is also impossible to change, politicians like the money they get, lobbying firms like making money off the process, and the companies doing lobbying like influencing the government.
My aunt actually owns a lobbying firm in D.C. that has done work for Lockheed and I work for one of the other prime contractors.
I don't like it but given my position I don't have many choices...
In general, agreement
Donating is giving money without you expect something in return, bribe is giving money when you expect something in return.
@@MT-ej5bf no one donates hundreds of thousands without wanting something
@@geordiejones5618 so it's corruption
Your range of subject is absolutely amazing. Keep it up.
I'm from Iraq, and I will never forgive Lockheed Martin
Cappy, this is so well made, they should give you a Pulitzer. 🥰
I enjoy nearly everything that you guys produce. Your research people have really shined as of late. Your newest videos are different, but stay within what I recognize as your mission.
This was your best work to date. Thank you.
We've had total regulatory capture by major financial institutions in the United States since at least the early 90s. This is a very important topic to unpack.
For an average infantryman this was a far above average historical video!
"The L-1011 Tristar with two engines doesn't exist, it can't hurt you"
*The L-1011 Tristar with two engines* 16:45
Wow Cappy your videos are great in general but this was one of your best. Keep up the good work.
thanks I really appreciate the kind words!
Thank you for your work. Amazing video
glad some people liked it I'm trying some new things out here and there
“McMissle”…something I can never un-hear…and I’m not mad about it.
As someone who works for LM, this was very interesting to watch.
Have they shown you the alien bodies yet?
@Little Sciolism I bet they keep plenty of aliens from earth in Area 51…
Excellent video. Thank you for doing it so well!
For future reference, Lockheed's tri-jet airliner was referred to as the "L ten eleven".
Thoroughly enjoyed this lil history lesson. Love hearing about the military industrial complex. This is not your average infantryman, this is a freaking historian.
bookstorian not historian
He s a bookstorian
also he can make things popping up ...but thats for a selected few only :)
Notice Eisenhower made that speech as he left the White House for good. Why didn't he deal with it while he still had power? Maybe he was afraid to.
The F-104 starfighter was the beginning of big time corruption at Lockheed, even thought it was a damn good plane, but extremely limited. 😒
27:56 imagine thinking being a military power trying to submit the world to their desire is the opposite of being a dictatorship
They make some good stuff lol
We love what our MIC does and we shouldn't apologize for this. The MIC is interesting but ultimately is necessary to preserve our advantages.
I applaud you for talking about this. No wonder you have gotten so yuge. This channel is one of the most important drivers of recruitment and interest in our military. You are doing great work, but have no doubt that the MIC of the USA is absolutely top tier. Someone even suggested a VPN sponsor of yours to convert 4th gen fighters with a toggle switch that allows them to go Gen 5 with a simple affiliate link, saving taxpayers untold hundreds of dollars. Perhaps even 0.001%/operating hour in expense savings.
Ridge Wallet? We will look for an angle for you on that one. It must be a helluva thing
Colombia makes good stuff too
so thats where the tax money is going... 47 Billion$ bruh
I've been to Lockheed Martin Marietta and it was a neat experience as a student watching them making the C-130's
this is why i think america will be okay in the long run, cause the country allows videos like this to circulate to inform the public so they're aware unlike authoritarian countries like china, russia, saudi and iran where any kind of criticism is met with censorship so instead of healing the corruption festers until it blews up on your face. Thanks for this video, keep it coming!
Haven’t you seen the twitter files that were released, showing how the FBI, CIA, NSA and other government agencies, directly interfered and suppressed information on Twitter and other big tech platforms? I agree with you, we definitely have it better than other countries, however our government is sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong.
Well I think America is in a position where if obvious censorship is shown, it's probably gonna bring up international controversies. And it may be seen as hypocritical to most people which would lead them to a worst situation.
An even and balanced look at Lockheed. I've learned some stuff, so good job. We still need to keep an eye on these guys.
The Lockheed L-1011 was usually pronouns as "L Ten Eleven", not "L One Zero One One"
Yeah made me cringe a bit lol
5 star tri star
Your evolving into a great military and political journalist dude, merry Christmas 🎄 from Canada 🇨🇦
I really enjoy your big picture episodes. Thanks a lot.
The audio in this one was rough. There were a handful of really distorted sections, along with the usual changes for parts of the video which were recorded at different times. Really enjoy the videos overall though!
Typical blue yeti picking up a hand hitting a desk.
Another great piece Cappy!
Great video your best by far! And your right by the way.
Phenomenal and balanced presentation. Thank you!
No lockheed, no airforce.
more of these please, they're great
To put the Lockheed 80 Hp 3-seater in perspective, the WWII Willys MB had a 60 Hp engine.
Giving politicians money in exchange for favorable legislation is called corruption not lobbying.
The companies give the money to think tanks so that they create studies that influence public perception and most importantly the politician's. They can also give the money to politician's campaigns so that later they owe a favor. It's convoluted but it still corruption like you say.