There are so many intricacies to the acquisition process that it would make a normal person’s head explode. It would be really nice if the military could just select the best tools for the job, but that’s never the case. There are libraries full of acquisition laws and regulations. The military can spend years studying and testing before making a recommendation just to be overruled by someone in the chain because the parts aren’t made in the appropriate congressional district.
Some weapons systems were selected solely to support a local economy where an important Congressman lives. The military didn’t even have a real need for it.
Some programs are put into place as an interim program to keep an assembly line open while new contracts are being written. The government knows that if they shut down an assembly line, the workers will go elsewhere the company will re-purpose the facility. So the government gives them another “make work” project to keep the facilities operating until the funding for the new project is approved.
Some of the simulators and electronics that were purchased for the F-15 were actually prototypes that were going to be used on the F-22. They were tested on the F-15 first.
Senior officials in the Pentagon will influence the selection process. Coincidentally, those same Generals sometimes get high-paying jobs with the contractor after they retire.
There are a lot of laws requiring the military to purchase from small business and minority and female run businesses. There are laws to limit how much of each system can be purchased from overseas. You don’t want key components of a weapons system to be controlled by a country that could shut off the supply for political motives.
The War Colleges and Pentagon have whole bureaucracies working on war plans and trying to determine what our future wars will look like.
Sometimes a single service commander will alter the whole strategy of the AF based on his vision. In one generation we were thinking that Strategic Air Forces could deter any major conflicts and the next war would be Nuclear. Then came Vietnam and we shifted to a different strategy. Now we’re preparing for small, global limited conflicts all over the world.
Think one of the questions that needs to be asked is, if you took any fighter aircraft from any arsenal today and put it up against the F15, what are its chances of winning? The 15, not only is a better plane than anything out there today, but has better pilots.
If someone asked me what could beat an F15 in a one on one dogfight, I would say the best plane Russia or China has, piloted by an American. We have a different way of thinking, which make us better with technology.
Thanks for your post, but that was not the kind of political correctness and social engineering I was referring to.
Surely you’re aware of the corrosive effects we’ve seen on our commanding officers, our servicemen, our morale, and our readiness, haven’t you?