>I wonder how that information is easily found afterwards.

Military hardware is produced with engineering design practices that look nothing at all like what most of the HN crowd is used to. There is an extraordinary amount of documentation, requirements, and validation done for everything.

There is a MIL-SPEC for pop tarts which defines all parts sizes, tolerances, etc.

Unlike a lot in the software world military hardware gets DONE with design and then they just manufacture it.