To: United States Department of Defense
Mister Secretary, Hammer Industries has become aware of recent comments made by the United States Military in the wake of its sale of Hammer Drone Models to the People's Liberation Army, and we feel that it is only prudent to address the concerns raised, before things escalate out of hand.
Hammer Industries continues to hold freedom and safety amongst its highest values, and its commitment to the American way of life as firm and unyielding, even in the face of these modern timess and the trials that come with them.
However, in the wake of the Stark Tech Expo incident, Justin Hammer was imprisoned. At the same time, the United States Military cut several contracts with Hammer Industries, which have had a deleterious effect on investor confidence in the company and its financial prospects. While profits are stable, they are significantly reduced from the past, leaving many to wonder about the future of the company.
As such when we found ourselves approached by the People's Liberation Army, it seemed the perfect opportunity to restore confidence and trust in Hammer Industries by showing the quality of its products as well as its reliability without outside actors such as the terrorist Ivan Vanko to interfere with. We have heard nothing but good reviews from the PLA, and hope that this will herald a restored era for Hammer Industries.
At the same time, it was believed that there would not be issue on the part of the US government, as it had previously decided to drop the Hammer Drone contract with us. This left us with a surplus of product doing nothing more than taking up storage. Which is a situation any business would try to rectify. More care would have been taken towards geopolitical concerns had it been determined that the US military considered the Hammer Drone and related technologies to be viable avenues for military development. Left without any evidence that that might be the case, we proceeded with the sale of what some might consider obsolete, or dead end technology.
Of course, if the military has since revised its position with regards to the Hammer Drone and other autonomous military vehicles (Perhaps due to the introduction of Mister Stark's 'Iron Legion', or the Chitauri invasion of New York City, we would gladly be willing to arrange for a test run of sorts, and would have more care with such sales in the future. We are confident that the military would not wish to be left behind if it does view autonomous weapons, such as the Hammer Drone, to be an important facet of conflict in the future.