$40K for an $8 knob? The case for a military right to repair

I know at first blush these 10k for a hammer and 40k for a knob charges seem outrageous but what you don't see if you just look at these charges is the other side of the equation where you fix bid a project and then the three letter agency you are working with changes the requirements mid-project.

You have to make the change and they are bound by funds appropriated and you have to deliver. The way this works out a good number of times is on the back end when you work together in a next phase to bill a 10k custom hammer as part of a maintenance and support contract . The reality is not that the hammer costs 10k but as a contractor you are being compensated for 10k of out of scope work you had to do in a prior phase.

Again this is almost certainly not about right to repair and more about fix the way these projects are budgeted and scoped.

Just my two cents here.