From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.5-pre1 (2020-06-20) on ip-172-31-74-118.ec2.internal X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.0 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_20 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.5-pre1 Date: 9 Apr 92 20:52:32 GMT From: ads.com!saturn!bhanafee@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Brian Hanafee) Subject: Re: Open comment to Ted Holden Message-ID: List-Id: In article spray@convex.com (Rob Spray) wri tes: >In <1992Apr9.155334.20536@schaefer.math.wisc.edu> nedervol@schaefer.math.wisc. edu (Eric Nedervold) writes: >>Does this argument extend to hardware too? Like $500 toilet seats? > >I believe that most of these popular DoD-bashing anecdotes are driven >by: > > [first 3 reasons deleted] d) Incomplete stories being told to the public by people such as Sen. Proxmire. As I got the story (2nd hand from an ex-Lockheed employee), the famous $500 toilet seat was a part from the P-3 Orion (a submarine chasing aircraft with a very long endurance). To reduce weight, all of the interior wall panels were molded from a Kevlar/resin material. One of the moldings (for an entire wall panel) included the toilet seat as an integral part. The entire custom wall panel cost $500. e) Stockpiling requirements. Since many DoD contracts require that the manufacturer be able to provide spares for many years, and the parts are often custom built, the price includes the cost of keeping the part in inventory for years at a time (usually cheaper than restarting the production line years into the contract for one or two parts). Commercial companies avoid this problem by making customers buy entire new systems. >--Rob spray@convex.com -- Brian Hanafee Advanced Decision Systems bhanafee@ads.com 1500 Plymouth Street (415) 960-7300 Mountain View, CA 94043-1230