<story><title>How Elon Musk exposed billions in questionable Pentagon spending</title><url>http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/elon-musk-rocket-defense-223161?href</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>schiffern</author><text>&amp;gt;When ULA was formed, Boeing and Lockheed were not only battling each other for launch contracts, they were also locked in a legal battle over rocket technology. For the Pentagon, the joint-venture was a way to settle the bad blood between its top contractors and make sure that both could remain in the space launch business. ...&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; In his remarks, Tobey referred to that payment — about $800 million per year — as a carrot to “sweeten the deal” for the “shotgun wedding” the Pentagon forced on Boeing and Lockheed. ...&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Shelby continues to defend the original concept of ULA, noting that Boeing and Lockheed were battling each other in court over rocket technology before the merger.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;“There was a lot of trouble at one time between Boeing and Lockheed,” Shelby noted in a brief interview.&lt;p&gt;Strange that the article never comes out and says it: Boeing committed industrial espionage and bribed Air Force procurement officials.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.seattletimes.com&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;boeing-probe-intensifies-over-secret-lockheed-papers&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.seattletimes.com&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;boeing-probe-intensifie...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;query.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;gst&amp;#x2F;fullpage.html?res=9802E2D9103BF937A35751C0A9639C8B63&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;query.nytimes.com&amp;#x2F;gst&amp;#x2F;fullpage.html?res=9802E2D9103BF...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.justice.gov&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;opa&amp;#x2F;pr&amp;#x2F;2006&amp;#x2F;June&amp;#x2F;06_civ_412.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.justice.gov&amp;#x2F;archive&amp;#x2F;opa&amp;#x2F;pr&amp;#x2F;2006&amp;#x2F;June&amp;#x2F;06_civ_412....&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>How Elon Musk exposed billions in questionable Pentagon spending</title><url>http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/elon-musk-rocket-defense-223161?href</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>ianai</author><text>Wasn&amp;#x27;t one of the primary motivations for privatising the space industry to cut costs? So player A wound up having significantly higher costs than later player B. Oh, but mind you, player B (spacex) has had some very serious accidents along the way. I don&amp;#x27;t remember hearing about such with ULA. I don&amp;#x27;t necessarily read this as a story of corruption and waste, full stop. Unless I missed something...</text></comment>