The Real Truth About Elon Musk's Power Over the Pentagon
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
- After shutting Starlink off in eastern Ukraine as troops were advancing on the enemy, SpaceX fenced off coverage, which prevented the Ukrainians from communicating effectively in the heat of battle and most likely cost lives. The action caused U.S. Department of Defense officials to worry about just how much power Elon Musk has over the Pentagon with SpaceX's proprietary technology like Starlink.
Thanks to TJ Cooney of WAI Media for his help with the tech details in this episode. Check out TJ's RUclips channel at / ineedmorespace
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Развлечения
Howard Hughes
told the federal government and the DOD that, he will deal with them at his own discretion .
@skyboys9814 - That worked for a little while, But when the feds decided to sick the SEC on him, it really slowed hom down... That was so unecessary, and Howard Hughes soon found ways to occupy the agressive ones at the upper levels of the SEC .....,
@skyboys9814 And that could be what prompted the SEC to go after him... Howard Hughes did have access to considerable wealth, after his father passed away, and he grew that money to much larger levels before long... But to tell the DOD and the Feds that "He'll deal with them at his OWN discretion" , Well that usually doesn't sit very well with some pretty powerful people... Generally a BAD idea....
If the DoD wants to control the geo fencing and unfettered use of Starlink, then pay for it.
What other US defense contractor provides services for free, before a contract is signed? Where is the praise for Starlink providing free Starlink to Ukraine in the first place? Would Boreing or LockMart have done this?
Yeah, don't remember any free F-18s or F-35s being sent to Ukraine. Or, indeed, any at all.
Nothing is “free” to us Americans.
Nothing is free. That is a fallacy we need to get rid of.
@@LTVoyager You're right. Starlink providing free service cost them a lot.
Amen sir. Extremely well said!
That was a fine line you walked there. good quality for an officer to have.
by fine line you mean he didn't go into the sordid details, right ?
@@ashleyobrien4937 He avoided dabbling in convenient misinformation, which many Musk detractors do. He also went pretty soft on Musk's recent Twitter timeline, opting to simply sum it up as him "trying to placate Russia". It's much, much worse than that. It would have maybe illustrated the risk better, but it would also have made the video too much about Musk and less about the issue of tech monopolies in key defense infrastructure (this goes back to the intro of the video Grumman).
Tact, acumen, and diplomacy are any young officer's best friends upon entering the service. Ward has had them in spades ...most of his career, lol!
@@emmettjones5165 as someone who has suffered over the years for my ‘free speech’ I appreciate the ability to say what you mean without becoming the issue yourself. Speaking truth to power comes in many forms and it is not without some pride to see a side of the military that is not often shown displayed here; a sound factual workmanlike assessment of reality that informs and doesn’t enflame (is that a word?). So common elsewhere to see the word ‘professional’ misused as a cover for bad acts and actors, but our officer corp seems to truly have the best features for their purpose intact. Musk is a vital, loose-cannon. I’m thankful for the fact that he must interface with our best in this realm.
It was mostly factually incorrect, actually. And his snotty, superior attitude is downright repulsive and more than a bit ironic. Not to mention a great demonstration of Dunning-Kruger in action.
SpaceX asked the DOD to compensate them for the Ukrainian Starlink use, and the DOD refused. At that point it's kind of disingenuous to act outraged when a private company decides that it doesn't want to foot the bill for a foreign war.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Fun fact. At the beginning of the Ukraine war when Russia was launching their tactical rockets at civilian targets. Ukraine, who had already been gifted Starlink at a military level from Elon, re-coordinated the satalite guidance systems for the Russian rockets. Results, eight very powerful rockets once airborne did an immediate turnaround and were redirected back at the exact laughing pad coordinates of which they came. And they were not peaceful non destructive landings either.
Starlink was said to be the hub to take over the internet, cable and telephone industries, but it has been weaponzied just like anything else. There are 11k starlink satalites currently orbit and the plan is to end up with 40k of them. If you are on earth, you truly have no freedoms or privacy.
This is why governments and elites are designing and building their own little off world sanctuaries.
i have been saying this for some time too. the pro ukraine crowd is quick to badmouth Musk, but never calls out the US government. even sadder is the fact that a privet company has capabilities better than the US government (and EU nations) to support the war in ukraine. at times it feels like ukraine has become a welfare state that cries anytime they don't get something for free.
No, Elon told you that's what happened. USAID not only paid for the terminals, they also paid for the shipping. SpaceX was awarded a contract to continue providing service to the US military into 2030 and that includes operations in Ukraine.
@@joedoe6444Ok comrade, thanks for your input.
Elon is not a twit 🐦
Nuanced coverage of polarizing figures like Musk is hard to come by. It’s important to understand opposing views independently and ideally before deciding to agree or disagree with them. The world need more of this sort of coverage.
I admire Elon Musk's intellect, however his narcissistic personality makes me nervous.
Agreed. I think in this case though, it's pretty clear Elon Muskovite is a ketamine-addicted edgelord whose ego makes him an easy intelligence target.
He's another Ghoul, from HELL. "You don't have to be smart in America, just so long as you can hire someone who is" *Ted Knight MTM show.
I've had Tesla stock for many years, and I've bought more over time. Musk makes the Tesla ride a thrill ride, and I don't mean in a good way. I wish Musk was less public. Thanks for you comment. Well taken.
Difficult to be nuanced when discussing Elon, who is likely the least nuanced person in the world.
Imagine listening to this report, but it’s 1980.
Or even 2010
It is kind of crazy how wildly the landscape changed in the last 40 years, and without a major war as the causal factor, like WW1 and WW2.
Agreed. I was 10 in 1980, awareness of the Cold War was just beginning to seep in. Imagine the State Department in 1980 receiving a telex from Ukraine SSR, at the time a state in the Soviet Union. "Red Army units have crossed our internal border with intent of removing local government. Send help."
@@emmettjones5165"But keep it on the down-low. We don't want to start WW3."
Honestly, in 1980 with USSR still at full strength, they probably would have thrown Ukraine to the wolves, as with Hungary in '56 and the Czechs in '68. (and the Poles and Balts generally)
@@MM22966wasn't Ukraine already part of the USSR at that point? It'd be more like declaring martial law than invading a sovereign nation. Still scary to consider nonetheless.
I’ll just say that it’s nice to have such a high-profile defense contractor who DOESN’T want World War 3.
thank-you
Its also nice to have a defense contractor who weighs Putin's advice...directly. Imagine if during WW2 North American's CEO chatted with Hitler from time to time?
@@badlt5897 Good Point... I don't like when a person in a position that he was in, arbitrarily converses on matters of our National defense, with the adversaries of our country and/or our allies... E.M. stepped WAY beyond his level of authority, by conversing & acting ; as a Personal Puppet for Putin...
@@michaelmartinez1345 you are confused. It’s not national defense, it’s global offense!
@@allenahil That is an amusing comment that You made about Your views of defense and offense... What is interesting is the way You immediately assumed that I'm confused of what those words mean .... Defense is a method to repulse / repel Offenseive forces... Your view of what E.M. has done by aiding our adversaries, seems to be one of some sort of a folk hero ..
That individual is little more than a communist - totalitarian sympathiser, like Jane Fondle was during the police action in S.E. Asia...
Excellent overview of Musk without the extraneous BS. Most appreciated.
There were several snuck premises in the video. I have no problem with Elon expressing concern about escalation of war, use of his technology, and so forth. It's not as if the powers that be have been truthful, reliable, honest, or efficient (especially the past couple of years). Naive to think his technology won't be used for violence? Hardly. Even clubs and knives, stretching back to their invention thousands of years ago, have been used for evil. Elon is smart enough to know tech of any kind will be abused. That doesn't mean he has to fund it personally, which was happening for quite a while. Now they're jealous that he has succeeded to such an extraordinary degree in so many realms? Elon has visions of greater things for humanity - no wonder the politicos, lackeys, hacks, and hangers-on hate him.
@@johnd2895 He is afraid to address the main cause of war which is RUSSIA. That indicates that he is not a free man and beholden to RUSSIA. All his "peacekeeping" is a red herring to help russia.
With BILLIONS OF TAX MONEY PER YEAR(750B) FOR DEFENSE, and you think ELON MUSK is the BAD guy? The "F" military should use their own "F" satellites
@@dukenukem8381 If that was true, he wouldn't have saved Ukraine on day 2 of the war when their command & control had been shock-n-awed.
If it had been me, I would have given them a month to come up with the money to pay for service, then shut it down if they failed.
@@dukenukem8381 The main cause of the major wars since the second has always been the US ambition for global hegemony and this attempt at taking Ukraine ( with it's millions of ethnic Russians ) from the Russian sphere of influence was so arrogant that the Russians simply could not believe it and apparently kept thinking they could manage a peaceful solution right up to the end. Turns out America would almost always risk nuclear escalation if it comes to choosing between giving up influence/power and taking a step back from global domination.
I live in Central FL. It seems there is a SpaceX launch every few days.
Current cadence is every three days including launches from Vandenberg.
@@materiallistprollc7741That's interesting. Vandenberg must be a lot busier than the announced launch roster.
Indeed there is. It has gotten so frequent that I don't even look out the window every time anymore lol.
I will for a falcon heavy tho
I thought they moved to TX
Very good commentary, by the way, Elon is very concerned about space junk as well, so all his satellites use their thrusters to maintain orbit, ( which because of the altitude do experience drag, ( just like the ISS), and need to be re- boosted and positioned once in a while). They have enough fuel for around 5 years of active use. After useful life, there is just enough fuel left to de-orbit his satellites, and they are specifically designed to burn up completely upon re-entry. I believe he said he has 14 early satellites that ran out of fuel too soon, or got damaged, and will remain in orbit uncontrolled for around 3 more yrs before coming down on their own. Out of his 6000 satellites, that’s not bad. One of his visions for his starship, once operational, is to possibly collect up those bad satellites. The guy is a visionary character for sure.
I spent my life as a mover and shaker in global manufacturing, and have never seen any companies as productive as his, and his people.
Well said and thank you for the added information sir. I concur!
Starship is not going to be used to collect satellites. The physics, fuel and orbital dynamics make any nonsense about collecting space debris sheer folly. 40 years in the space industry, seen all kinds of proposals to do so and they all come to the same dead end.
It’s not OK to tell somebody that they have to give their technology to another country. If the government wants to support another country, then they should contract for those services.
Theres alot behind the scenes that even @Ward Carroll isn't privy to
How do you they have not compensated Musk? If not directly, then through tax breaks.
Is it ok to tell someone to give you their technology in return for yours and then refuse to hand yours over... America?
@@ice_fly_alex Its a racing certainty that there's a lot behind the scenes almost nobody is aware of 🙄
@@charlesmartin1121 I would argue that Ukraine hasn't paid a dime for the service so I don't see any problem with a provider stopping providing. The US Def Dept. isn't paying for it either (specifically Starlink) so why should it be up to them what Musk does with his services. (I understand you quip about taxes etc... but that has nothing to do with the service provided to Ukraine).
7:45 there's no way the drone pictured is being flown via Starlink. It's clearly via a point-to-point, line-of-sight radio link. Larger drones could be flown with Starlink, but the US had the Predator and Reaper before Starlink, so Starlink is clearly not "required"
I don't know but it could be flown via a stationary relay station with Starlink.
There is obviously no Starlink-transiver on the drone itself.
Nit picker
Starlink are used for Maritime drones, only these have power budget to carry current terminals.
Russia is jamming drones so they need to be autonomous
If Pentagon is humble enough to beg Elon then they absolutely desperately need his Starlink. Enough said.
The USCG has installed Star Link on our cutters. Pretty good connectivity.
Nice, that is a military system, and cheap too.
Nice thumbnail photo
@@tedmoss WTF are you talking about? Starlink isnt a military system and neither is the coast guard. Why is there so much nonsense being bandied about in the comments?
Good enough for Ukraine @@lu544
@@thomgizziz My CAC card and my poor health care treatment says different Bro.
I for one think the entire starlink in ukraine thing has been extremely unfair for spacex. They initially donated terminals as humanitarian aid so people could stay in touch, but it quickly was used as a military asset. Then when Elon wanted to get paid for supplying an entire(!) country with internet, people called him all sorts of things. And it's like, guys, spaceX isn't a charity. Then when he didn't want his communications network to be incorporated into weapon systems to be used against russian ships, he got called evil. And it's like, guys, starlink wasn't built to be weaponized. It was built to make spaceX money to fund Starship and send humans to Mars. If russia decides starlink is a valid target and starts destroying satellites it kind of ruins the whole plan. I think if SpaceX could go back in time they never would have sent those terminals and I wouldn't blame them after how politicized all this has become.
@swampfox4425 well when people are constantly telling you one thing and then doing something else, you might change your mind once or twice
Maybe he could have used some of the tens of billions he spent acquiring Twitter to provide vital coverage for people desperately fighting to retain their freedom from a tyrannical dictator. I am sure our government would give him one hell of a tax write-off for doing that.
Musk is free to return the hundreds of millions in tax dollars given to him over the years to build and prop up all of his companies then he can do whatever he likes. Until then, he is in debt.
Russia doesn’t have the capacity to destroy more than a handful of the sats. Not much risk there.
If he started supplying militaries all over the world, his products used to kill hundreds of thousands, how many people would call him a monster?
And this is why government owned networks are so important. It's the further the support of the nation not a private individual.
When I was at Tesla, I drank beer with Elon in the auto shop after hours with some other engineers... he is, in person, the same guy you see in interviews. And, he does indeed have some Asperger's Syndrome (it takes one to know one.) But his beer choice - Heineken - well, even I know to avoid skunk piss. And as I am about to click the Comment button, this will go up and out over my Starlink panel, which has brought color to this rural, old, slow DSL black and white world of the ranch. What was once 1Mb/s download is now 125-250 Mb/s
He stated he doesn't drink beer ??
Given that he's packed on a few pounds in the years since, it's probably a good idea to cut out beer. But back in 2008, yes he did indeed.@@elmerhuyard3565 ...then again, so have I and I cut beer intake way down. Yeah, and bread, snacks, cookies....
absolutely. Heinekin is skunky beer.
Free speech is free speech & only probability of truth decides how reliable it is.
UN said in 50s world will end of environmenttal crises in 80s ...It didnt ...same story happened every decade. Clearly UN & WEF r liers not R8 wingers.
UN says women r victums & oppressed...Extensive stats show they have highest hapiness index. Clearly UN r liers
My college was in the same town with a major NY engineering university. I dated many brainy engineer students - some might call them 'geeks', but I finally found young men whom I clicked with. I eventually married one. Looking back I now realize that many of those wonderful talented young men showed signs of undiagnosed Asbergers - which is what made them geniuses. I adore Elon. He has all the characteristics that make a great man
This is a really good RUclips channel.
It is a top 2 YT channel! The other being Alex Hollings, who Ward recommended a couple years ago.
Everyone should be thankful to have Ward around.
He is extremely good, very measured, and never codes to conjecture!
@@roberthevern6169 Agree, both Ward and Alex (Sandboxx News) are absolute units. And don't forget the Mover & "Donkey" Show :)
I dont think it makes sense to use Mach number when talking about speeds outside the atmosphere
It's just a reminder that you've spent your life below Mach 1, and he hasn't. Using units of measure familiar to you, even in situations where they strictly speaking don't apply, is normal human behavior. Just be kind, and interpret his "Mach 25" in orbit as "about 11x as fast as I went in an F-14 not in orbit, at an altitude where Mach numbers DO apply".
It's like saying a building is as tall as 4 football fields. It's just choosing a unit of measure that some people can relate to, to help visualize it. Last time I checked, football fields weren't 100 yards tall, or even had any height associated with them, actually being a plane which height does not apply to (or a very plane-like section of a very large sphere....I mean oblate spheroid....I mean geoid). Some people would nitpick that a football field is 120 yards rather than 100. There is always something to nitpick.
@@EfficientRVerits just when I heard it, the image of my fluid dynamics professor frowning dissaprovingly came flashing to my mind! 😆
It's just a ballpark figure of relative speed.
You know perfectly well what he means by it.
It’s relevant when you have to re-enter.
Great video. Some good information in a sea of hyperbolic clickbait
I have never purchased a Tesla. I certainly cannot fathom having the means to go to space but Elon is a very interesting character. It seems most of the people in his arena are so used to being dishonest as a standard business practice that they have a very hard time with him. He will say what he thinks and listens to your argument intently. He will act on it if makes sense. But he has a very good ability to see through all the fluff and around the point arguments. It's a very strange approach sadly in a position where you would expect being direct and straight to the point would be status quo.
Lol. I guess you missed the Don Lemon interview.
@@criticaleventif you think somehow the Don Lemon interview went poorly for Elon, that I would guess you have a very biased opinion. Don Lemon is an absolute joke, and got put right in his place
@@criticalevent You have a lot to learn about advertising. Keeping in the public eye requires controversy. Teaching people to think for themselves is an unrewarding project, but if you are going to take on the most difficult challenges, it helps to be the worlds richest man by a very long way. The proof is in the pudding.
@@tedmoss Just to sum it up: Advertising = Pure Evil. I mean, just look at Google...
@@criticalevent You mean the Don Lemon hit job where he reduced everything to race?
P.s. gonna have to watch this twice.
Superb coverage of a complex story. Thanks!
America is bloody lucky to have Elon Musk. Without him they'd still be relying on the Russians to get people to the ISS.
…and relying on censorious criminals to communicate.
True.
GOD you idiots talk as if SOMEBODY ELSE WOULD NOT IMMEDIATELY TAKE HIS PLACE AND BUILD VEHICLES,
but MINUS all the corruption and fraud. You keep excusing the negatives because of a few positives.
But WHEN THE NEGATIVES ARE ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY, THERE IS NO LOGICAL REASON TO DEFEND THAT OPTION.
Yes, but he is definitely what I would call the perfect example of the idiom: “double-edged sword”.
However if there hadn’t been so many political games and funding cuts to NASA - we wouldn’t be in the situation when we had to have Musk bail out our Space Program.
@@markholmphotography Really? So Boeing would have sorted it with a few more billions?
This is why one person who can't be voted in or out should not have so much power.
Couldn't get an informative factual report like that from anywhere else I've found. Thanks
Some of the information is outdated however. It needs a follow up.
Yes exactly - I'm a big Musk fan and he is doing great work but I'm not ignorant of his flaws. He is also playing a sensitive chess game with the the US government. Ward has become a balanced voice of reason with insider knowledge. Keep up the good work.
I understand @tedmoss, I can remember when all L1011's became worthless overnight, but Ward provides a breath and depth to the topic and doesn't try and spin it.
Musk: "Hey, I can't keep doing this shit for free."
Pentagon: *crickets*
Musk: *flips the off switch*
Pentagon: "Hey, hey, hey....hey...that's not fair!"
true
When Musk is gone, he is gonna be hard to replaced.Dude is living my dreams.
You don't want his life.
Right on! Elon is quality!
there is almost no hope if Elon dies tbh. We've entities like WEF, Blackrock or worst George Soros who does nothing but destructions. Bill Gates even thinks the world has too much population.
While we criticize Musk for refusing to offer his Starlink services for free, let’s see Lockmart, et al, offer their services for free! How about some free F35s and Ford-class carriers!
I also see the difference here between traditional defense contractors and SpaceX: SpaceX’s goals aren’t military-focused, and the philosophy of the company's founder should matter some, at least. Also, while a US company, SpaceX has a global market to consider.
This should have been footstomped halfway thru the vid, right before the info about Elon pulling/disabling services to the Ukraine armed forces. Which also made the intro data about how the Pentagon acquires capabilities irrelevant-- the Ukraine Starlink deal was not a DOD capability acquisition.
People calling Ward's coverage 'nuanced' are full of EDS.
How about a breakdown on Boeing defense contracts being used to, can I say subsidizing, it's dismal performance in commercial aviation? Are the defense contracts holding the FAA hostage in regulating its commercial aviation failures? How does this affect National Defense preparedness and futurity? Since this is a non-political content website (thank you!) I won't ask if red vs. blue conflicts determines what compromises the DOD has to make in procurement. Outstanding, Thank You
i would look at cheney's ties to boeing, did he personally profit from the move? whether it was necessary or not, that should always be a question with these insane government contracts.
With BILLIONS OF TAX MONEY PER YEAR(750B) FOR DEFENSE, and you think ELON MUSK is the BAD guy? The "F" military should use their own "F" satellites
When it comes to defense contracting, there is no red vs blue. Both parties only vote for what makes them personally the most green.
Next time Russia sends a letter to the UN stating it will invade another country unless the US stops effing around, maybe we shouldn't just laugh it off.
You can see videos from Ukrainian politicians they were put in power to start the wars
Maybe we should have kept the promise of President Bush and not expand nato another inch east.
Russia was not treated very good, the world could have been a very different place had the United States helped Russia as we did with China. It would have been more desirable to have Russia as an ally than chi na and russia becoming aligned
Soo many censored comnents
Maybe if the US had not forced Ukraine to return all of its Soviet nuclear weapons back to Russia in exchange for US protection Russia would not have invaded Ukraine.
Dude is a real life Tony Stark..he is probably making a real iron man suit in his basement..LOL
Thanks for the update
Starting to get Howard Hughes vibes with Elon.
Starting?
I recommended to DOD almost 20 yrs ago that they needed a LEO sat system in order to reduce latency to meet certain needs. They didn't green light it but I got a cool t-shirt, coffee mug and a big old BZ for the effort ;-)
Hi Ward - your insight is thoughtful and appreciated as usual. I do think, however, that there's more to this than just the war in Ukraine. Musk is privy to information on political operations here - operations that the public isn't meant to see - both through his government contracting with NASA fighting the established beltway mainstays to get a foot in the door, and of course through his acquisition of Twitter and all the backchannel communications between the political parties and the prior Twitter leadership. He is a private citizen, entitled to his own beliefs, and yes happens to own and operate some massively important companies and services. Like it or not, he also has a responsibility to shareholders and investors to show a return on their trust in him. I'm definitely a fan of Musk on many fronts, but I understand the he's a hard person to nail down and prone to change his mind seemingly overnight. Should any one person / company have this kind of independent power over something so vital to a country's war effort? Probably not. But the fact is every other American is free to do what he did, but they haven't. So in a way you just have to roll with it. I am a fine of the Pentagon investing in the purchase of SpaceX hardware to develop a system they own though - that will take a lot of the guesswork of things like this, plus compensate SpaceX for their expenditures so far.
"But the fact is every other American is free to do what he did, but they haven't." - Nailed it
Elon has pushed some serious new space capabilities. The U.S government has missed the boat early on.
Not really. Once SpaceX proved it could launch reliably, the government awarded numerous contracts to SpaceX, both military and non-military.
The same US government that funded it?
Yeah after SpaceX sued them so they could bid on DOD contracts.@@howard6433
SpaceX certainly did all they did on their own. They did not have all of the knowledge and past work of NASA to start from at all.
@@LackofFaithifyTo be fair, Elon certainly seems intent on ignoring the lessons of Apollo on this latest venture :)
Did you forget about the Ukrainian ambassador cussing out Musk? They should be much more appreciative than they are.
The West put them on a pedestal... the entitlement shows...
"How dare you cut my Welfare Benefits just because I use them to buy beer and cigarettes! My decisions are none of your business!" ~ Ukraine
It's even worse than that. They had Musk on their kill list until they thought it over.
You don't know what happened, they should have told Kiev about geofencing the Krimeea not left then in the dry.
@@Kannot2023 Elon announced it in a public statement, they cussed him after it.
I suspect another consideration for Musk and Starlink, is that Russia may have the capability to start systematically disabling Starlink platforms using anti-satellite directed energy weapons, should Putin give the order.
@9:10 there is an important missing piece of information here... The cutoff wasn't a decision by Musk, it was a software update implemented by SpaceX engineers to comply with a completely unrelated demand by the FCC that SpaceX not provide service in countries that it didn't have operational agreements with.
The digital FCC map they tied into the service categorized the occupied oblasts of Ukraine as "Russia" so when the software update went out the dishes in those region cut themselves off.
The fact that this narrative of "Musk turned off starlink after direction from Putin" is still floating around is why Elons insistence that PR is unnecessary will be his downfall.
The Truth and The Narrative rearly travel in the same car. If it doesn't fit the narrative don't mention it 😯😯
If he does not think PR matters why did he buy Twitter?
@@charlesmartin1121 because he wanted to say wtf he wants without anyone being able to stop him. PR is the opposite of Elon on Twitter👍
@@kschleic9053 Really? Tell that to Don Lemon.
@@charlesmartin1121 Lemon by name, Lemon by nature.
Ward, keep up being a positive force for good in the world
Sounds like Elon gives more defense department heads sleepless nights than just me.
You should worry more about Vladimir, Kim, Xi, and others, and also that shitgibbon.
You can't blame a guy who is getting things done, while Pentagon couldn't, for the failures of Pentagon. You want his service, pay for it. If you are incompetent, don't blame the competent.
That's quoting Ronan Farrow.
@@WardCarroll Imagine if Lockheed had a Starlink network they would charge the US hundreds of billions of dollars for them to access.
@WardCarroll should be ,,business,,like any other business and paid for, aggree
Excellent SITREP. Thanks shipmate!
Isn't it great when people who aren't Ukrainian demand that Ukraine negotiate because they want to see the killing stop. I mean, sure, the killing needs to stop but Ukraine has the right to decide when to negotiate, and the Russians also get a vote.
Well said. Ukraine has the right to defend themselves from a brutal, unprovoked invasion. I am so fed-up with American Putin-apologists.
100%
Musk is right to a certain point though. The war won’t end because Putin has been embarrassed by Ukrainian.
By giving Putin the ground he has invaded, it might allow him to save face and stop the war.
At which point Ukraine should be quickly made a member of NATO. Stopping any chance of another war.
Yes, but since American taxpayers are spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to fund the war, don't they have a say?
100%
Only thing I would add is that the front line geofencing was to stop both sides from using the service as Russia also had the terminals. Ukraine was also using starlink for its naval drones which put them offside if they allowed it knowingly without a waiver from the DoD
Yes, this wasn't mentioned. SpaceX found it was on tricky ground legally if they allowed Starlink to be used on russian occupied territory. Thus the way out of this problem was to contract these areas out to the control of the Pentagon (which wasn't instantaneous - surprise, surprise). If you don't like the way it was handled blame US law and the Pentagon, SpaceX was simply trying to be in compliance. Of course our government allowed SpaceX and thus Musk to take all the heat. Pretty predictable and disgusting.
@@StormyDog to add - the biggest issue was the fact that starlink was being used for remote guidance of offensive weapons (the marine suicide drones). That changes its classification.
You sure do have an interesting way to describe Musk. Adjectives and adverbs say a lot about a person. You have a real passive aggressive stance towards him. That indicates you lean strongly to the left. That being the case, you make a mockery of that jacket and your time served.
Yes he does, this video sure isn’t going to help him grow his channel. I only recently subscribed, now I will likely unsubscribe…I don’t like tyrants or people who support tyrants.
It’s a neocon/neolib/MIC/Boomer take.
I feel like Dick Cheney could’ve narrated this.
So out of touch with the real reality.
That game can be played by anyone, you are proof, please relax
This was a great report. Very well done and informative.👍
Take him over the Raytheon board member we have now. No conflict of interest there
So you favor appeasement? How bold.
@@charlesmartin1121why don't you volunteer for the foreign legion, then? If you make it out, the US and NATO governments will wreck your life by branding you an international terrorist
@@charlesmartin1121 Where are you at? There is no appeasement here.
@@charlesmartin1121what a stupid response. If you don't agree with the war you must be an appeasement Putin puppet... silly man.
@@tedmoss Are you threatening me?
Update for starlink on March 8, 2024, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted SpaceX conditional approval to use E-band radio waves to increase the capacity of Starlink's low Earth orbit broadband constellation.
1) This will allow Starlink to have four times the bandwidth.
2) Recently, liftoff of Starship.
This last starship launch was epic. Got to see the plasma of reentry due to the starling terminals on it.
Solid report Ward, thank you.
The DoD can pay for the Starlink if they want to swing a deal, but Musk doesn't have to donate his equipment or services to another government.
Exactly.
They did. In fact they've grossly over paid for it.
@@criticalevent I think they alluded to that at the end. Ok then, he had a point.
Ukraine paid way above the going rate for their equipment and service. Musk is a mercurial individual. That has always made dealing with him problematic for anyone put in that position from employees on up the chain.
The he needs to give back the hundreds of millions he has used in tax payer money over the years to prop up all of his totally original and uniquely made by his own genius string of companies.
Handwringing over Elon's competence is a drag on performance. You want competition, specify contracts that challenge Boeing and others to match SpaceX performance.
"Elon's competence" AHAHAHAHA.... oh, god, you're killing me. that was a good one.
@@mmm-mmm yeah single handedly made electric cars relevant, made solar roofs relevant, invented the reusable rocket, single handedly responsible for putting US astronauts in space, single handedly responsible for a global internet system that allowed Ukraine to survive. Yeah I don't see any competence here, no sir
@@mmm-mmmhahaha your brain rot consooooooomes
@@farfromreal you mean when i lie, steal, and cheat? i'm not like musk. sad that you think money = smart.
@@mmm-mmm Can’t “cheat” manned spacecraft into orbit, genius 🤡
Musk's $1.8 Billion StarShield contract with NRO is an interesting read. Reporting on the topic indicates the program is part of SDA - apparently a revival of the " Brilliant Pebbles" concept from the Reagan era (SDI/Star Wars). Thanks, Ward
I assume it’s a small sat SAR constellation that can do both space domain awareness and ground. Fits with the tech stack as starlink is all beam forming
@@dmacpher Apparently so. Imaging was also mentioned in the (reuters) newser. COTS imaging gear is really good nowadays - Sony sensors and Canon/Optron lenses come to mind. Years ago, the Dragonfly Array used Canon lenses to image previously unseen ultra-low luminance deep space objects. Cool stuff.
@@dmacpher It looks like 2 Starshields were up on the recent Starlink launch.
@@sneakerset optical doesn’t flat pack well unfortunately, so I don’t it’s that. But yeah sensors themselves have come a long way.
@@dmacpherGood point.
1:20 “Some reports”? He said it himself. And even did so in a monologue while hosting SNL.
Your research and presentation of complex topics is ALWAYS outstanding. Excellent work. Mooch. Thank you
Can we not see the issue that the guy had? His company gave them the Starlink and took the cost for a year. Then it started to be used for strikes into Russia and he wasn't cool having his company directly supplying and paying for that. It is the DoDs responsibility to have a separate program that separates Starlink from the violence.. Which they ended up doing. They made an agreement and now the people with the monopoly on violence can supply Ukraine with the connectivity they need. I'm for Ukraine but I am also for Elon. The guy gets too much shit. The connotation was negative on this too
I am with Russia on this, the just will be total access for both sides and no attack on civilians that Ucrania do all the time.
I love your fairly unbiased reporting and great information. some minor corrections: LEO satellites don't need ion thrusters for anything to do with their orbit; the launch rocket puts them into orbit, giving them the mach 25 speed. the use the thrusters to spread out in space in relation to each other.
Actually it's just to have more orbit-maintenance and maneuvering capability per pound of fuel/thrusters that you pay to get into orbit. Better specific impulse. What you use that for, is not what makes you choose it. The fact that it will remain functional for several times as long, is the reason to use it.
LEO satellites do encounter some drag, so need orbit maintenance burns just to stay in the same orbit.
Stating that a satellite flys a Mach whatever is a moot point as at that altitude there is no air thus the speed of sound and therefore “Mach” is irrelevant. Try stating the speed of a satellite in mph.
Correction to your correction... SpaceX satellites are low enough in low earth orbit that they actually do encounter drag. Without ion thrusters to periodically boost their orbits, they would deorbit and burn in the atmosphere within months. It's a good thing, as faulty satellites won't remain in orbit as space junk for long.
Correction to your correction... SpaceX satellites are low enough in low earth orbit that they actually do encounter drag. Without ion thrusters to periodically boost their orbits, they would deorbit and burn in the atmosphere within months.
Excellent point. Bravo!
Thank you for the news.👍
Super concise and packed into just 15 mins. Excellent report. Thanks Ward.
Thanks for your relatively unbiased report. Most don't even try. I think this resolved in the right way.
"relatively"
Unpredictable whims? You mean tough negotiator!
Musk is a toxic psycho. The company would probably do better without him. He has created or invented NOTHING. He's a smoke show.
Wow awesome episode … you’re good with words
Excellent analysis and extremely interesting. Great job Mooch!
So, Ward, what is the alternative to 'outsourced capabilities?" Defense contractors are routinely late, VERY late in delivering systems, i.e., aircraft; and are consistently way, way, way over budget. What do you propose as an alternative?
I propose a man like Elon Musk, that will get the job done on time and far below budget.
@@tedmossexactly and from what I can tell he'll be straight up about it
Yeah this video is simply ridiculous without pointing out how Boeing and Lockheed Martin are way over budget and behind schedule on many projects affecting national security. Platforms are timing out with no replacements yet prime contractors are posting record profits and shareholder returns.... Abysmal for national security.
Give NASA their budget back. That was the entire point (in theory) behind contracting with SpaceX. SpaceX was supposed to become the boring package delivery mechanism to commercial earth orbit. They forgot they were dealing with someone that has their own online army of cult members and guru worshipers and more than enough money to hire enough lobbyists too get it all redirected to his coffers.
Stop allowing politicians to own stock in defense contractors. Our government is nothing but corrupt.
Small point. Asperger’s Syndrome is no longer considered a separate diagnosis from Autism Spectrum Disorder
Thanks for the information. I have a daughter who's on the autism spectrum who is high-functioning
Except that Musk is a psychopath
And yet many who have the above condition prefer the older nomenclature.
@@leeg4804 She should feel free to use "Asperger's" if she wants.
But people with it are still compulsively honest.
Good comments. Going to subscribe. Thanks.
Excellent Report Ward, thank you.
Thanks for a very accurate portrayal of the realities of Musk/DOD interactions.
Your excellent reporting should have more reach
IMO.
Thanks from Idaho, Ward!
It's excellent reporting, which is precisely why it isn't widely known.
I have STAR LINK...best internet we've had (rural) but I wouldn't buy a all electric auto (high electric cost)..
Elon is...different...BUT the guy's genius...my opinion!
Excellent piece.
Thank you.
As long as musk is breathing, the pentagon has no other choice but to be interdependent with space x
Musk should start a separate corporation specifically for the purpose of dealing with DOD issues such as Starlink connectivity in places such as Ukraine such that the relationship is kept hidden and neither his nor his companies' names are linked thereto. Then he could contract with the DOD via that corporation exclusively. He could do this and still maintain his relationships with the government via SpaceX.
As for "His definition of Free Speech", it seems to conform, pretty much, though not perfectly, with those of Edmund Burke, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson as well as Associate Justice Louis Brandeis.
You're on crack if you think Elon would give up his day job of bitching about things that didn't happen on twitter.
@@criticaleventno I think you're overestimating your ability to judge someone. What happens on X is nothing more than Amusement for him😂
Musk thinks faster than others, he has taken care of the DOD and everyone is happy.
@@Wyomingchief Its a teaching moment. People will start to think for themselves.
I don’t think it’s so simple. My guess is the DoD isn’t comfortable explaining to Russia why they’re funding a strategic asset for Ukraine. I’ve no idea what Russia could or would do about it, but then wtf do I know about diplomacy?
Hey Ward, any insight or care to comment why all the Commanders are being relieved of duty lately. Seems pretty strange to me from the outside looking in
Love the channel, Ward. Keep up the good work. You are becoming my 'go to' source for unbiased info.
Great content brotha just subbd!
One of the best balanced and honest commentaries of Elon Musk I've seen. He's clearly a brilliant businessman with a solid technical background that has built something special in both Space-X and Tesla, but sometimes he does things that no one can explain.
If they are without principles or scientific education, how could they?
I can explain it....Defense contractors and deep state actors don't have him by the balls like they do everyone else. So they rely on people's ignorance to trash talk him because "Oragne man bad" That's all this stuff ever does.
First & foremost a hard working brilliant engineer.
He's bringing me a gratification I never expected to receive, it's been delayed so long. Means and opportunity rarely occur together. He is actually doing it. Great name btw. @@helmshardover
Hmmm . . . a government agency pressures one of it's regular suppliers/contractors to provide free services. This is legal?
Not supposed to be. It’s against the Anti-Deficiency Act and Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR).
Never happened. All BS. Do some actual reading and not on twatster
Nice work love your channel brother..good info.
Thanks Ward. Ashley Vance's Book is a Good depiction and fllowing
The traditional "Military- Industrial Complex" comes to mind. However, Musk, a natural born renegade, isn't a "team Player" and that resonates negatively with the 'Military-Congress-Industrial Lobbyist Complex.
Which in an offhand kind of way Ward is a part of and defends such, while he paints Elon in a negative light/tone.
Uh, no, plenty of defense contractors are not "team players" any more than Musk is.
@@psychohist Name 1 major one.
@@TreeLBollingTreeMan General Dynamics
@@psychohist WHAT? General Dynamics is one of the worst for cost over runs on sub constructions. And I won't go into the F-16 problems. But whatever.
Thanks!
Excellent reporting!
"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."
"... the more things stay the same."
LOL
Not to mention that 'A rolling stone is worth two in the bush'
Or that if my aunty had 🥎🏈 she'd have been my uncle?
I too am a man of many parts - Sadly some no longer function as well as they did
Limelight 🎶 🎼 🎵
@@babboon5764 That's OK, we now have Neuralink and Teslabots.
Joy and suffering. Life must have both, otherwise it cannot exist. /generalizations.
Ward, you need to get yourself a Strat and Princeton Reverb so you can get in touch with your inner Richard Thompson!
Yay. lol
Thanx for the headsup👍
Thank you this is super informative.
I'm a Musk fan. Ward used the term "flawed genius". At least he is a genius and not just flawed like many of the folks running our military who are in my opinion about a Starlink satellite orbit away from being geniuses. Does Microsoft have a monopoly on government software sales as in 365 Government. I certainly support Musk more than I do Bill Gates or Microsoft.
He’s a billionaire. He’s not your friend anymore than Gates is your enemy. No man, no single person should have the ability to blind the US in space.
As a musk fan how do you cope with your thin-skinned crybaby musk simping for strongman like putin?
Ward "the swamp" Carrol
*Carroll
Elon "the grifter" Musk 😝
Great breakdown!
Thankyou for the video ❤😊
As a very rural resident, I, for one, appreciate Starlink; it's the only viable internet service out here that has decent service speeds/ connectivity. I pay for it every month... Ukraine... doesn't. And if Musk doesn't want to fund war or have his tech used that way, I don't see the issue.
nuanced yet sane analysis of the situation, earned a new subscriber!
Yeah I thought it was super fair and fact based
Glad to have you!
As a subscriber for years, you should know that Ward is top notch for factual, unbiased reporting. Ward knows the intricacies of that which he reports on like no other!
@@dmacpher all the facts came from a Ronan Farrow article which were really just Farrow's opinions. Farrow disgraced himself during the Kavanaugh hoax and is a rabid lefty....
@@roberthevern6169 that’s awesome! definitely seems that way from the videos I’ve been binging, thanks for the welcome :)
Great breakdown, thanks Ward.
One of your best and tightest podcasts. Thanks Ward!
I agree with you on most things you said about Elon But the General is wrong about Freedom of Speech Elon is right The general needs to read our Constitution and its Bill of Rights he swore to defend But Elon is a genius and all men have flaws
Elon only believes in freedom of speech that he likes.
its a parasitic rather than symbiotic relationship seems like given the profit margins these monopolies enable. Its not fair to put starlink in a position to pay or influence outcomes. The feds should pay for it if they want the stuff out there, and make the decision if the hardware will provided and how. Dangerous to let any commercial company decide such things, but not fair to make them fund it.
Well done.
Very nice of Elon Musk to allow the US military to use something that works!
No good deed goes unpunished
After reading his biography I am convinced he is the smartest guy since Einstein. Maybe since forever. Totally amazing thought processes that have revolutionized almost everything he has tried.