New Pentagon report censors details on weapons programs’ performance, flaws

[rangerrebew]

 New Pentagon report censors details on weapons programs’ performance, flaws

"By caving to pressure inside the Pentagon and hiding unclassified information behind a pseudo classification, the current leaders of DOT&E are undermining the effectiveness of their own agency," said Dan Grazier, a fellow with the Project on Government Oversight.
By   Valerie Insinna on January 28, 2022 at 11:44 AM

 

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s independent weapons tester has eliminated data about the performance of more than 20 weapon programs from the public version of its 2021 report, including major acquisition efforts like the Marine Corps’ CH-53K King Stallion and the Navy’s Ford-class carrier.

On Thursday, the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation published the public version of its annual report, and for the first time ever, a version with “controlled unclassified information” was also made available to Defense Department personnel and Congress — out of sight of taxpayers who foot the bill for the multi-million dollar programs.

In December, Raymond O’Toole, then the acting head of the DOT&E office, explained the decision to release a controlled version of the report, saying that some of the unclassified information “shouldn’t wind up in our adversaries’ hands.” He said the services would ultimately determine what information is considered CUI for each weapons system.

https://breakingdefense.com/2022/01/new-pentagon-report-censors-details-on-weapons-programs-performance-flaws/

[rangerrebew]

New Pentagon report censors details on weapons programs’ performance, flaws

No news will be coming from the Pentagon, in that case, since that is all there is to report.

[AARguy]

The new light (electric) vehicle for the Infantry is a perfect example of this. Its too small to hold enough people, let alone supplies. Its too high to be stealthy and too slow to be survivable. I also watch as the services introduce new uniforms almost annually now, for no reason at all. They are never better protection, never easier to maintain, and never, ever less expensive.But millions of newly designed uniforms all the time is good business.

Systems which passed testing in the past are also looking bad now, like Boomerang, deigned to identify the source of enemy fire. The troops think its worthless.

In WWII we fielded some failures too, but it was usually due to simple mistakes. The "Tank Destroyer" was one such. A lightly armored tank killer that was faster and more nimble than a tank, it was diesel powered and delivered Army wide. Someone forgot that the Army ran on gasoline not diesel back then and "tank destroyers" couldn't move. But that was just stupidity. What's happening now seems more insidious.

We spend money on things that don't work or aren't needed, while we fail to acquire lifesaving things like AID (Automatic Injury Detection) which has proven its efficacy in police forces from coast to coast.

I used to be in the military acquisition stream in uniform and out. I used to defend lobbyists in those days as good sources of information for decision makers. They helped. Now... something else is going on. Perhaps today's lobbyists are following the example of Biden's son and becoming millionaires rather than providing a service.