Thread by @PalmerLuckey

This "deeply reported" piece from WIRED is inexcusably bad.

First, it is just wrong. Not nitpicky things, fundamentally false jabs and premises.

Second, it completely ignores the stakes of supporting active troops to push r/antiwork softboy talking points. Examples below.

The "But" here is insane. Deadline pressure beyond what is typical in the defense industry? I fucking hope so!

This attitude is pervasive through the whole piece. "Sources say" technicians being asked to work 45 hours a week minimum is counterproductive? Okay WIRED. Make sure you don't mention that the team was rushing to get our technology to Ukrainian soldiers who desperately needed it, but definitely quote the expert who actually believes nu-age bullshit like "Just asking them to do work more doesn’t make them work more"

The same goes for whining about spilled epoxy or aluminum powder, inane stuff that is part of literally any new line setup.

WIRED won't ever mention or even hint at the American lives being saved in the Middle East by rushing critical technology into service as quickly as possible, though, or why it would be morally monstrous to delay production of something that keeps troops from being turned into pink mist on account of minor production hiccups. They are too busy playing pretend OSHA and insinuating that we don't pay or cover treatment for people who burn their hand.

To quote one of our workers at the McHenry, Mississippi facility: "The amount of wrong info in this blows my mind. Every event they discuss is blown so much out of proportion… even completely wrong info about safety incidents. I know I shouldn't take it personally, but this gets me incredibly angry and frustrated."

Asking everyone to work five days a week? The horror!

WIRED wants people to think Anduril responded to an insane heat wave by saying "then let them eat Popsicles", but it just ain't so. Probably best to just quote two of our workers at this supposed factory from hell:

"The Morrisville bit was a little amusing, they forgot the part where massive AC chillers were rented to help with temps during all the HVAC work for the now-operational AC. Upper management can't cool the city down but they did mitigate the heat waves in the building. Operation Popsicle was a success."

"All we did was give out popsicles, Gatorade and Unlimited breaks as needed while the AC was being installed."

Another "But". This one really rustles my jimmies because the whole point is to claim Anduril hasn't actually pulled off one of the most incredible programs in aviation history, the fastest new fighter program in many decades.

In their noble quest to call me a liar, WIRED apparently didn't bother to read literally anything about the aircraft General Atomics submitted to the CCA program.

Their prototype fighter has been flying for years. This isn't just my personal opinion or some clever twist of definition, it is explicitly what GA themselves has been heavily marketing - their argument, and it is a reasonable one, is that their aircraft has a much longer track record than Anduril's YFQ-44A Fury prototype.

To quote one of their press releases from early 2024, loooong before Anduril was even awarded a prototyping contract: "Since then, this prototype for CCA has successfully completed two additional test flights, laying the groundwork for a successful production and flight test program. GA-ASI’s CCA production representative design is based upon the XQ-67A Off-Board Sensing Station developed by GA-ASI for the AFRL."

You won't see WIRED doing dozens of interviews on the 99.98% of the defense budget that doesn't touch Anduril, though. Programs years over schedule and tens of billions over budget don't get a drop of ink, factories that explode and kill dozens don't get even a passing mention. Why would they bother when instead, they can report that @mttgrmm didn't like the chicken wings he had for lunch?

Tired.

WIRED really gives away their whole game by choosing to "feature" this particular comment, pushing it to the top by fiat.

The goal is regime change, not reporting. Sorry, assholes, you won't be able to get rid of me this time.