There are many things wrong with our procurement system for weapon systems.
The F-35 is a classic example of politics intruding into a design, and making it a Trillion dollar lemon.
We write our specfications with so many requirements that it takes Billions and years to adhere to them.
Also, this doesn't help. Every contract has to have some sort of women and minority pay off in the shake down.
Politics is one thing, but as Griffin points out the absolutely broken acquisition process is another. The main purpose of the acquisition organization these days is to hire feds and inside the swamp support service contractors - and let’s be clear - these are guys who push paper and make viewgraphs to and for admirals and generals. They invent nothing, they design nothing and they build nothing. They are just swamp slime that decompose taxpayer dollars and turn it into noxious swamp effluent.