Isos wrote:mnztr wrote:Isos wrote:The number of uksk isn't huge so the production don't need to be huge. Everytime they get a new plateform they can order a new batch.
Even the US have around 2500 tomahawks in stock with more than 150 launch plateforms.
You get best pricing when you set up to produce a substantial and steady amount. Just ordering ad hoc is very expensive. Employees get laid off, they are not avail when you call them back, they lose expertise. etc. This is why their ship building is in such a mess.
Missiles are made with tooling machines. You don't need experts for that. If course you will need some employees to always work on the production line and train new ones but that's not a big deal.
The figure you gave of 200 per year is not big. That's something like 2 or 3 per weak. 20 or 30 workers could do that pretty easily.
The big issue is price as they cost around million $ piece that's 200 million every year.
Its never as simple as it looks, all the components have to be assembled and tested, every single gas turbine. all the wiring etc. Each missile is several hundred components from across the country, hundreds of workers. Some of the components are commodity items, and some specific. Its really a small aircraft.