No Sailors Need to Apply

awesome video!

Also known as a target for opposition's gunnery training.

not too many diesel electric subs spend time topside

No, no. Their surface fleet.

we got that covered

As impressive as the video is, I have a feeling that a higher percentage than ever of the costs of weapons systems is spent on this type of "eye candy".

Lots of money spent on paperwork and certification of testing. Completely understandable.

You end up with something similar in commercial aviation; the wings of a jumbo jet are held onto the body of the jet by a single bolt per wing, those bolts cost something like a half million dollars each, but if you look at the head of that bolt, it's almost completely covered with inspection and certification stamps that tie in with REAMS of paperwork certifying the bolt's fitness, and tracing the 'pedigree' through the plants and forges, tracing it back almost to the very ore that was dug up to make it. All that testing, tracking, and certifying, because LIVES are going to literally hang from that bolt.

Then it comes to protecting lives, we American's don't pinch pennies⁽¹⁾. We've got missiles we can use to soften up the opposition and all but eliminate their ability to fight back? Cool. They cost a million dollars a shot? Launch those Tomahawks like they're penny candy, if each one means a squad of troops goes home alive and with all their fingers and toes, it's worth it.

Notes:

1. The state of Michigan appears to NOT want to be included in that statement, based on the actions of the current political regime there and what they did to Flint.
   

Totally agree. I have also worked a deep submergence program where we had Scope of Certification requirements (-P9290) because we were putting people in a can under water. All the critical items had to have a similar inspection and certification process all the way back to the foundry that smelt the metal.