Re: [semi-OT] Good mags (was Re:Terrorist Groups)

[Roger Burton West <roger@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Feb 26, 2002 at 05:44:45AM -0600, Robert J. Hansen wrote:
>> Maybe the PCs are hired to find out why every piece of kit costs so
>
>A friend who works as a military contractor told me this, actually.  And
>no, it has nothing to do with a way to hide budgets for black
>operations.  :)

And sometimes it's worth it. I'm quoting Alan Brain on the Ground Zero
Games mailing list, from last June:

]The story of the $500 wrench.
]
]This was a special tool designed to unlock a bolt on an F-16A's 
]ejector seat. It was found that a $2 wrench could do the same job, 
]except for capturing the bolt afterwards.
]
]Big hoo-ha. $2 wrenches rule.
]
]Then someone dropped the bolt while unscrewing it. To retrieve it took 
]nearly $500,000 worth of effort in taking apart the F-16 and 
]re-assembling it. That's why the menufacturer had gone to the trouble 
]of making special tools... after awhile, the governernment spent a lot 
]of money getting new wrenches, and even more getting the cockpit 
]re-designed in the F-16C.
]
]
]The story of the $200,000 coffee machine.
]
]The USAF has a machine called the C-5A Galaxy It's capable of 
]transporting 300 troops pretty much anywhere in the world, and is 
]designed for long flights, long, long flights that can end up in a 
]combat zone.
]
]Do you have any idea how much coffee gets consumed by 200 paratroops 
]about to make a drop in 17 hours? So it's not your standard 4-cup 
]coffee-maker.
]
]What's more, the C-5A had to be able to function in case enemy action 
]caused it to de-pressurise. So the machine had to be able to take 
]sudden changes in ambient pressure without exploding and sending 
]scalding coffee everywhere.
]
]Now the GAO (Government Accounting Office) had a neat rule to save 
]money. Any aircraft involved in a minor accident, such as tyres 
]bursting, could be stripped of non-essential non-critical parts until 
]put back in service. They didn't have to be re-tested if they weren't 
]essentials, like ailerons, but were "nice to have" like cushions, or 
]coffee machines.
]
]So there was a requirement that all such non-essential items should 
]have their crash-worthiness tested, to see if they were OK to re-use 
]without inspection.
]
]And all requirements had to be tested.... so, you guessed it, the 
]manufacturers had to load up an old 707 with vast quantities of parts, 
]fit radio-guidance, and deliberately crash it and salvage what they 
]could. So for 30 or so coffee machines, that cost an additional $5 
]million or so. Yes,, they made a loss on each one.
]
]
]The $90 screw.
]
]The GAO also had a rule that overheads involved in any purchase should 
]be evenly spread between all items in the purchase. Sounds fair 
]enough. 
]
]Until someone bought One (1) F-15A Fighter at $25,000,000 and Nine (9) 
]Number 3 screws at 0.01c. Plus overheads of $899.90. Total cost for 
]the F-15, $25,0000,089.99. Total cost of each screw, $90.00.
]
]All was not what it seemed in the 80s...


-- 
Roger Burton West - roger@firedrake.org - gamer since 1984
http://firedrake.org/roger/rpg/
52. The newest and least experienced soldier will usually win the
    Medal Of Honor.