Category Military industrial Complex

May 25 2023

30 Tons of Ammonium Nitrate Goes Missing


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events Re-Posted May 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

(video from Dyno Nobel’s YouTube channel)

A lot of expensive and lethal weapons of war have been reported missing this week. There have been numerous train derailments in America this year, and trains containing lethal materials routinely do not make it to their final destination. A railcar holding over 60,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate left Cheyenne, Wyoming, on April 12. The railcar was discovered two weeks later, completely empty, at a stop in the California Mojave Desert.

Ammonium nitrate can be used as fertilizer or as a powerful explosive. This is the same chemical used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the 2020 bombing of Beirut, Lebanon. Miners commonly use this chemical as a fuel source to remove massive rock formations since it is so effective. Manufacturing company Dyno Nobel reported the shipment missing to the National Response Center on May 10. “The railcar was sealed when it left the Cheyenne facility, and the seals were still intact when it arrived in Saltdale [Calif.]. The initial assessment is that a leak through the bottom gate on the railcar may have developed in transit,” a spokesperson told the media. Another spokesperson told the New York Post that “there is no indication of any danger to the public and no indication the pellets were intentionally taken by anyone.” The company insists that the contents in the pellets “fell from the rail car onto the tracks in small quantities throughout the long trip.”

Should we believe the railcar casually fertilized the ground amid its long trip? Dyno Nobel markets itself as an explosive company, and their contents were never intended for fertilization. “All accidents are preventable. Injuries, illnesses, and environmental damage are not an inevitable consequence of conducting business,” the company states on its website. Given that this company specializes in explosives, it is peculiar that they would have such a major failing that they are reporting as an accident.

May 25 2023

Audit Reveals Pentagon Lost Thousands of F-35 Jet Parts


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted May 25, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The Lightning II or F-35 is one of the most sophisticated fighter jets available. Created by Lockheed Martin, the jet is designed for stealth and destruction. This elite weapon is the most expensive plane ever built, with an estimated lifetime cost between $1.4 and $1.6 trillion. The United States owns more of these jets than any other nation, but a recent report reveals that the Department of Defense is missing thousands of F-35 parts.

Although the F-35 costs around $80 million, the operation costs are very high, with an average flight costing $36,000 per hour. Lockheed Martin has claimed that it could reduce flight costs to $25,000 per hour if the Pentagon awards them a lucrative maintenance contract. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in 2019 stating that the F-35 had a major shortage of spare parts. “F-35 aircraft performance is falling short of warfighter requirements—that is, aircraft cannot perform as many missions or fly as often as required. This lower-than-desired aircraft performance is due largely to F-35 spare parts shortages and difficulty in managing and moving parts around the world,” the reported noted.

The problem of managing moving parts globally was never solved. In fact, the GAO released a new report stating that thousands of spare parts are missing, “the total value of which is unknown.” The Pentagon never kept a record of its most prized aircraft, which are held in over 50 locations globally. The Pentagon’s F-35 program office spent $12 million to conduct the inventory, discovering they were “unable to provide the cost, total quantity, and locations of spare parts in the global spares pool.” The GAO is condemning the Pentagon for its “lack of accountability” and said this massive error highlights why the Defense Department needs to conduct a full audit of all its inventory.

The Pentagon handed over the power of record-keeping to the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin seemingly does not know where the parts are either, but they’d happily supply the US with more. The nation is trying to cut funding everywhere but has lost at least millions from this mismanagement. One must wonder if only the bill, but not the parts, existed. The US did gift Ukraine an F-35 and positioned numerous F-35 jets in strategic NATO member locations on the eastern front. Lockheed Martin believes that over 400 F-35 aircrafts will be stationed in Europe by 2030. The defense contractor is planning for a major war, while the US government is ill-prepared and cannot account for its own weapons.