The Tech Bros Powering Silicon Valley's Military Fever Dream

> Sporting mullets, chewing on nicotine pouches, and crushing energy drinks, the group sang patriotic songs while charging up the Pacific 101 Highway. At one point, they stopped on the side of the road to pray — and to launch a drone.

This looks like what I'd write if someone told me to create a stereotyped caricature of Texan bros. But it's real here, lol

I am not sure if this article is trying purposely to paint a certain caricature of the people, but personally I think we should be cheering on a renaissance in defense tech. Look at the incumbents - they charge insane prices for old technology and they do not meet the contracts they were awarded or even come close (see the F35). The Pentagon has never successfully passed an audit, and stories like the $90K bag of bushings (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-3171121/Video-M...) are all too common.

And on the other side of the world, US adversaries like China, Iran, and Turkey are building massive naval fleets, innovative cheap drones, and more. The old guard of Raytheon and Lockheed and the rest are not going to keep the US competitive, but simply enrich the owners of those companies. If the US wants to reign in spending, maintain military supremacy, and protect the democratic world, it is going to need great innovation from fresh minds. I’m by no means a nationalist, but to some extent patriotism, collective purpose, and an interest in American values (as mentioned in the article) is a good thing for the world.

Ebbs and flows with time. Silicon Valley has a long and illustrious history with the military industrial complex. Miltech has been unpopular for some time, but with the war in Ukraine the pendulum is swinging the other way.

This article is a bit of a caricature but there has always been a strong connection between Silicon Valley and the US defense establishment. I often see claims to the effect that people in Silicon Valley are too "enlightened", "progressive", etc to work with the defense establishment, but it is difficult to not see that as anything but an ideological filter bubble or wishcasting since there is ample empirical evidence to the contrary and always has been.

Most of the time it is almost intentionally low-key. Then there are periods, which we seem to be entering, where it advertises itself loudly. I wouldn't interpret it like this wasn't always going on, just that it is more noticeable right now because it has become fashionable for a period.