Imagine being a bright young 20-something, Bachelor's/Master's in a technical field. Your folks want you to do the conventional thing, get a well paying desk job, settle down, marry, have kids. You have many such opportunities. But you want to do something for national security. https://twitter.com/dheerankur/status/1311029784361619459

You answer whatever clarion call is in vogue at the time. The Ministry/Service wants XYZ high end mil-tech problem solved. A newcomer to the field, with little to no financial/institutional backing, you make the grade. This is huge. Your life is about to change.

But you quickly find out getting money from the Government is nearly impossible, even when it's committed in black and white. Every rule and reg in the book is thrown at you to justify why they cannot fund your R&D even though they they'd promised to when they suckered you in.

Cash is king, and cost of capital in this country is prohibitive. Time's up. You fold or sell out. You and your fellow dreamers go back to the life your parents wanted for you, but now you're a good five or ten years behind your peers, because they didn't waste time on this faff.

The 'system' successfully beat the passion, innovation and drive out of you and your team. In a couple of years when your sibling/cousin/nephew/niece says they want to do something cool and innovative in defence, you take them aside and tell them to grow the hell up.

This is how the culture of defence entrepreneurship and innovation is strangled. And then we wonder...

[Based on, sadly, a long list of true stories that I wish I'd never had to hear]