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Just think, that $160 billion is only a small fraction of the $787 billion Porkulus Maximus bill, and actually WOULD have created good paying jobs in the US. (Due to ITAR export controls, foreign nationals would not have been permitted to work on projects like this, so US citizens would be the primary beneficiaries).

Instead we got 30 years worth of Democrat pent-up wet dream pork all in one shot. Crap that never would have seen the light of day, much less 3/4 a trillion of non-existent dollars in normal times.

Yep, elections have consequences. And a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.

This is the one statement I vehemently disagree with:
“[RFI] was an army program that recognized that American army troops did not always have the best weapons and equipment. RFI was intended to do something about that, and do it quickly.”

BS. American troops almost ALWAYS have superior equipment and weapons in battle. Especially against Toyota pickup “technicals” or obsolescent Soviet bloc armor or improvised explosive devices. What we were not too fast at was reacting to these improvised and innovative assymetric warfare weapons.

>Finally, there was SOCOM (Special Operations Command), which had long possessed its own RFI powers, and budget to go with it. SOCOM could buy neat new weapons, as well as equipment. SOCOM could also afford to buy expensive stuff (night vision gear and satellite phones). SOCOM personnel were on the Internet as well. By 2001, thousands of soldiers were speculating on the Internet how much more effective they could be if they had SOCOMs freedom to quickly get new stuff that allowed them to do their job better. <

The Green Berets deserve it.

Btw, they should also cancel the Stryker and go with the M8 Thunderbolt

You're not "sparky", are you?

The author is confusing the Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) with the Rapid Equipping Force (REF). RFI provided updated personal clothing and equipment to deploying units. This included improved helmets, body armor, and some electronic kit, but did not include the much broader range of equipment sponsored by the REF. RFI was an accelerated fielding program for equipment that had been through the complete cycle of materiel development.

The REF, on the other hand, introduced new technologies to the theater before it had undergone any extensive development. The result was that some of the kit was a great success, some a great failure, and some were good ideas, but not quite ready for prime time. Both programs demonstrated that if you were willing to take some risk, and were determined to overcome the bureaucrats, you could get things done quickly.

Both efforts are having a harder time repeating earlier successes. The easy stuff has already been done, and the tough problems take more time. The bureaucracy has also played a role, adding weight to the saddlebags whenever they can to slow these racehorses down.

The one thing from FCS that will be missed is Netfires (or whatever they ended up calling it): a box of missiles that just sits there waiting to be pinged by a field commander, at which point it unloads all sorts of Bad Stuff on the enemy.

The military has more stuff they do not use than we could possibly imagine. I remember not too long ago sniper schools and fielded teams couldn’t get enough ammo to practice because the budgets went to pie in the sky crap. Personal armor was saving lives but budgets weren’t there to buy simple $1,000 armor, yet, the Air Force is billions behind on a pie in the sky satellite system that has little advantage over systems costing 1/10th as much. $10 billion went to the Peacekeeper missile that was then canceled.

Back to basics would be good but between politics, social experimentation with queers and women in combat, to pie in the sky systems, the average grunt has far less than what he should be given to accomplish the job.

The Air Force canceled the A-10 using more F-16s for ground support. Dumd idea, but politics prevailed and money is wasted and ground troops don’t have the best, and cheapest, ground attack aircraft they need.

I seriously think the military should cancel every research project and start over. Anything not in production should be halted.