before i was born my dad worked on navigation systems for airplanes. cool tech with genuine civilian uses! they didn't even initially have a contract with the DoD. it still ended up purchased and adapted for use in military aircraft.

the break room in their office had a television that was set to run live footage of the gulf war. he tells me fondly that they'd all gather around to watch and cheer when bombing runs hit, because it meant the baby they'd been working on had done its job well.

i'm not sure how many of those people would claim they'd worked for a defense contractor, or how they would have responded to that footage before they took that job. it's normal to want to feel proud that the thing you made worked! but when the thing you've built is used for war it creates utterly perverse incentives. corrosive to the soul