• Snot Flickerman
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    126 days ago

    I mean… the previous ones were by Northop Grumman?

    Is it really a shock that the US turns to defense companies for this kind of thing?

    • @[email protected]
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      6 days ago

      There was a time when these were built by Jeep/AMC motors. People used to buy these used at auction and drive them after they were retired. And electric delivery vehicles are already built by companies like Rivian and Ford, though I don’t know what the cost difference is.

      I would think building a “bespoke” vehicle for USPS would result in more expensive service parts. But I don’t know what kind of service contracts are included with these.

      • Snot Flickerman
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        6 days ago

        The Grumman LLVs were “bespoke” and have been being used since the 80’s??

        • @ironhydroxide
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          36 days ago

          Bespoke in that they were essentially S-10 pickups with different bodies.

          • Snot Flickerman
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            6 days ago

            And talking about the US prior to the military industrial complex and post military industrial complex are two different things.

            Post WWII its been a revolving door of “defense” company executives having high positions in government.

            Remember VP Dick Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton? Remember Halliburton getting no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq?

            My point is: this is the norm now.

            Is it stupid? Yes. It is a result of the growth of the power of the military industrial complex? Also yes. Is it what you ought to expect based on past behavior? Fucking obviously.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 days ago

      True, but I don’t think it’s had any link to the aerospace company for a very long time, right?