“we already cant afford what we do have.”
Since when my FRiend?
Well, all I can tell you is that I work on some expensive systems for the govt. Money, allocation of it, not having enough to do everything the customer wants, and trying to get to the place where the contractor can justify staying in the business while providing the value the customer needs, its all a balancing act that gets played out. So some programs get funding and others do not. If the customer had unlimited funds, they could get everything they wanted and of course the contractors would be happy to provide everything they want. But limited funds is the reality.
If the Navy had all the money they wanted we would still have a 15 Carrier, 360 ship navy. If the Airforce had all the money it wanted, every airplane would be either an F-22 or a B-2, and anything else would be subcontracted out since all the Air Force really wants to do is fly fighters (had to get that jab in). If the Army got everything it wanted we would have the Spec Ops guys we have today AND the 60 ton tank forces we had during the cold war.
That’s all I am saying. I wont go into specifics regarding space, but the same trades have to occur, and when systems cost a billion dollars each, you just don’t get everything you want.