Is It Gucci? Industry, Status Anxiety and the Fn Minimi

This chapter investigates the process by which private industry has manipulated soldier status anxiety with a view to upselling equipment. With reference to the British Army, this chapter shows how trust between the user community and engineers broke down during the privatization of Royal Ordnance. This resulted in a hollowing out of engineering skills within government and created an opportunity for private industry to employ a range of techniques to create military fashions, turning soldiers into consumers. This penultimate chapter observes that the balance of power between soldiers, engineers, scientists, bureaucrats and alliance partners has now shifted in favor of private industry.