Ford, GM Could Be About to Make Weapons for the First Time Since WW2

[AzScorpion]

Sounds like a coverup for a government bailout. Giving them overpriced military contracts.

My guess it's a way (deal) for them the circumvent the steel tariffs.

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[TJC]

Ayyy it’s a thread where my line of work finally comes into play!

if the contracting officer and the acquisition plan is well thought out, it’ll have the correct contract type to hold their feet to the fire.

Being foreign owned tho is, as you suspected, likely to blame. Politicians freak out when non-US OEMs are used in an effort where domestics exist. Case in point, Boeing vs Airbus. Even tho airbus was potentially the better product, and willing to build manufacturing facilities in the US, Boeing got the tanker contract for the USAF despite losing, protests, etc etc etc.

Government acquisition is tough with so many regs and risk of protest.

Back in the late 70's I worked in USAF SAC HQ maintaining the Projectors and computer interfaces that ran the War Rooms at 3 SAC sites in the USA. The SAC sites controlled 2 of the 3 legs of the MAD pedestal. The 740 B52 Bomber Fleet with nuke bombs, (1/3 of which were on standby 24/7) and the USA ICBMs, 1000 minuteman and 54 Titans.

Add to that the NORAD CMC (the eyes of the USA) Those 4 sites controlled 2 of the 3 legs of the MAD pedestal (Bomber Fleet nukes and ICBMs numbered 1000 minuteman and 54 Titans), and the early warning defense system of the USA. We could detect the launch of a missile anywhere in the world within seconds of it firing.

That's a lot of serious defense and weapon systems depending on those computers and projection cameras.

The interesting thing about the cameras was they were almost entirely mechanical devices that processed 2 types of film with data passed to them from a mainframe computer. The data was processed on a CRT, and the film was exposed, developed on one film , then transferred to another film that was developed by a heat pad.
They were massive machines, shaped like the letter L rotated CCW ~90 degrees, and were 10' long and 6' high, and each site had 4 of them. SAC HQ in Omaha had 5.

I only tell you this information so you can begin to understand the mechanical complexity of those cameras/projectors. When processing images to display (30 second duration), the clacking was loud, and intense!

Now here is the interesting part of the story. At the height of the cold war, the heart of these cameras were manufactured in Communist East Germany by a clock maker!

I doubt that he even knew what the part that he was making was being used for, or even by the defense industry. These were custom hand built, and were ultra reliable. In my 6 years I never replaced one.

Here's a picture of Offutt AFB Command Bunker
Underground Command Post II - "A new visual display system, designed to expedite command and control of [SAC's] far-flung retaliatory force, is in operation …. Large screens [present] information on weather conditions, force deployment, aircraft and missiles, plus a multitude of other operational data, can be projected on the screens as desired to aid the commander in chief and his battle staffing making vital decisions promptly and accurately. Incoming data from a nearby battery of computers that link SAC's global network of bases can be processed and projected for viewing within 30 seconds." Circa February 1961.

By 1976 the system was old, but upgraded and still in use. I got out in May, 1981 and was still maintaining them at that time.

The slanted windows in the top right corner was the general staff briefing center. You can see it, but I worked directly below them where the computer interfaces and projection cameras resided. There were 5 of them here, 4 at Barksdale AFB, (Shreveport) La and March AFB (Riverside), Ca. One at NORAD (worked there for 3 years). Those were the only locations that I could transfer to and all of them underground.

 

[SigOris]

Poutine launchers? That'll surely stop the enemy.

Saves room for KIELBASA

 

[AzScorpion]

Saves room for KIELBASA

They use that in place of Mustard Gas!

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Back in the late 70's I worked in USAF SAC HQ maintaining the Projectors and computer interfaces that ran the War Rooms at 3 SAC sites in the USA. The SAC sites controlled 2 of the 3 legs of the MAD pedestal. The 740 B52 Bomber Fleet with nuke bombs, (1/3 of which were on standby 24/7) and the USA ICBMs, 1000 minuteman and 54 Titans.

Add to that the NORAD CMC (the eyes of the USA) Those 4 sites controlled 2 of the 3 legs of the MAD pedestal (Bomber Fleet nukes and ICBMs numbered 1000 minuteman and 54 Titans), and the early warning defense system of the USA. We could detect the launch of a missile anywhere in the world within seconds of it firing.

That's a lot of serious defense and weapon systems depending on those computers and projection cameras.

The interesting thing about the cameras was they were almost entirely mechanical devices that processed 2 types of film with data passed to them from a mainframe computer. The data was processed on a CRT, and the film was exposed, developed on one film , then transferred to another film that was developed by a heat pad.
They were massive machines, shaped like the letter L rotated CCW ~90 degrees, and were 10' long and 6' high, and each site had 4 of them. SAC HQ in Omaha had 5.

I only tell you this information so you can begin to understand the mechanical complexity of those cameras/projectors. When processing images to display (30 second duration), the clacking was loud, and intense!

Now here is the interesting part of the story. At the height of the cold war, the heart of these cameras were manufactured in Communist East Germany by a clock maker!

I doubt that he even knew what the part that he was making was being used for, or even by the defense industry. These were custom hand built, and were ultra reliable. In my 6 years I never replaced one.

Here's a picture of Offutt AFB Command Bunker
Underground Command Post II - "A new visual display system, designed to expedite command and control of [SAC's] far-flung retaliatory force, is in operation …. Large screens [present] information on weather conditions, force deployment, aircraft and missiles, plus a multitude of other operational data, can be projected on the screens as desired to aid the commander in chief and his battle staffing making vital decisions promptly and accurately. Incoming data from a nearby battery of computers that link SAC's global network of bases can be processed and projected for viewing within 30 seconds." Circa February 1961.

By 1976 the system was old, but upgraded and still in use. I got out in May, 1981 and was still maintaining them at that time.

The slanted windows in the top right corner was the general staff briefing center. You can see it, but I worked directly below them where the computer interfaces and projection cameras resided. There were 5 of them here, 4 at Barksdale AFB, (Shreveport) La and March AFB (Riverside), Ca. One at NORAD (worked there for 3 years). Those were the only locations that I could transfer to and all of them underground.

That’s a lot of info, right there, Tony.

Any black SUVs pulling up outside your house at the moment?

 

[TJC]

That’s a lot of info, right there, Tony.

Any black SUVs pulling up outside your house at the moment?

Naw, everything I mentioned has long since been decflassified, and the gear was ancient when I worked on it (still was Top Secret though).

I remember driving home down the mountain and hit a rabbit. I stopped to check on it. It was alive but had what appeared to be a broken shoulder. Just as was about to leave the USAF Security team pulled up and asked me why I had stopped on the Access road. I showed him the rabbit. He looked, and kicked it off the mountain. then told me there was nothing to see and to never stop going up or coming down the road to the complex. He followed me down the mountain to I-25. I went home.

NORAD was shuttered for years and just recently reactivated. Barksdale is still active and still home for B52s. March AFB is now a USAF reserve base. Offutt is still active.

My Top Secret SBI clearance is only valid for 10 years, and has long since expired, and you can't go anywhere or see anything "without a need to know".

I can tell you this.... the US has tech that doesn't see the light of day for years after deployment. We were flying the F117 for 15 years before it was public knowledge (it only flew at night for years).

Same for the SR71. The Russians could see it (on radar - 1 sweep)), just couldn't hit it. At first due to altitude and speed, then due to jamming and spoofing tech.

Imagine your radar lighting up with a hundred or so targets! Which one is the real McCoy? You've got a minute or so to push the button before it wouldn't matter as it would be out of range. The Russians purpose built interceptors in an attempt to bring one down. They never got close.

Nothing here is confidential. It is all readily available. I;m too old to go to jail!

 

[22Splash]

Note to Ford and GM, this isn't going to be nearly as easy as slapping together B-24s on re-tooled auto assembly line.

 

[mrmike7189]

Poutine launchers? That'll surely stop the enemy.

And equipped with extra cup holders for all that cold canadian beer

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

And equipped with extra cup holders for all that cold canadian beer

Ahhhh, it’s a little known fact there, Normie that the first Ski Doos, which were made in Canada, had cup holders as standard equipment for that very reason.

 

[Grandaccess]

I guess if this happens it would get both get out of financial binds from their EV losses and Ford from their recall losses. I know that government contracts especially military ones are held to a much higher standard but I sure hope they can build parts that are high quality and don't fall apart. There's no error for recall here!

https://www.newsweek.com/ford-gm-co...weapons-for-the-first-time-since-ww2-11836674

If its as good as the Ford/GM 10 speed we might need to learn Russian
you never know when it will blow up or how many miles it will go before it does
It just makes their factories a military target now LOL

 

[Cabose-1]

It could be they just make some small part of something. We now have some vehicle manufacturing company here in south texas, they make some kind of eletronics for ford, chevy, toyota and honda. So...american part russian parts, all made in tawain.

 

[Dereku]

I wonder why Stellantis was skipped.

Was it due to them being a foreign owned company or their propensity for building junk?

Because if they made weapons they probably wouldn’t work.

 

[Dereku]

Saves room for KIELBASA

Makes sense we would launch those at people. Missiles are already phallic shaped. Polish Kielbasa is the biggest sausage made, or so I tell people.

 

[Grumpaw]

Makes sense we would launch those at people. Missiles are already phallic shaped. Polish Kielbasa is the biggest sausage made, or so I tell people.

New "arms" race......."My Sausage is Bigger Than Your Sausage" !!!!!

 

[Dr. Zaius]

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