Note the price point in the 🧵👇 The challenge is that drones with Chinese electronics are flooding the world and changing warfare because they are so cheap, less than $400 to $1,000 each. The US response is to build drones that cost $360,000 each ($360 million / 1,000) 1/

From a Pentagon / MIC / defense contractor perspective this is a feature & not a problem. Very hard to make money on lots of cheap drones, can make a lot of money on a few very expensive drones. That's all that matters right, defense manufacturer profits? 2/

The problem is that while this fits with the corrupt US incentives system, it means that the US essentially concedes a critical part of modern warfare to China on a global basis and on an indefinite basis. The revolution in cheap drones for warfare will be supplied 3/

& controlled by China because it is politically unacceptable to the US Ruling Coalition to make the necessary changes for the US to be able to build cheap drones at scale. The "elites" would rather concede the world than rock the boat in terms of offshoring vital industries. 4/

So, we have a 1-2-3 combination going here. 1. American workers don't get the jobs, which increases "elite" wealth 2. Americans pay for the most expensive military in the world. 3. But yet, that military is nowhere near as good as it could be, in order to increase "elite" wealth