Arsenal of bureaucracy: US lagging behind China in acquiring weapons needed for a future war
The Pentagon has a well-earned reputation for acquisition boondoggles, weapons programs that cost too much, deliver too little, and take too long to make.
“There are so many DOD programs that are plagued by cost overruns, design delays, and performance issues,” Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) lamented as he chaired a House oversight hearing in July. “Sadly, this subcommittee has had no shortage of programs to examine when it comes to oversight of DOD.”
One recent example is the Air Force’s replacement for the Cold War-era Minuteman III nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile, the land leg of America’s nuclear triad. The total cost for the LGM-35A Sentinel program, which includes some 400 new launch sites, thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable, and land acquisition, has ballooned to more than $140 billion, an increase of 81%. Under a law known as Nunn-McCurdy, the cost overrun is deemed “critical,” which required the Pentagon to declare Sentinel vital to national security and state that no cheaper option is available, in order to avoid its cancellation.
The Sentinel is just the latest poster child in a long line of overbudget, underperforming, not-ready-for-prime-time weapons that are increasingly the rule, not the exception.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/arsenal-of-bureaucracy-us-lagging-behind-china-in-acquiring-weapons-needed-for-a-future-war/ar-AA1oUlWF?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=b3a22c76ce104bd38d48078c63816fb0&ei=131
