For years, the military services had an unnerving tendency to declare to their funders on Capitol Hill just what their old mean defense secretary wouldn’t let them have. It has always struck Battleland as a little too close to kids crying over what Santa failed to bring them. We noted three years ago that then-defense secretary Robert …
Defense Contractors
Well, April 1st Was Last Week
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$204 Billion
Lies, Damned Lies, and The Pentagon’s Latest Budget Numbers
There’s a pair of must-reads just out for anyone paying attention to the Pentagon’s acquisition nightmare: one is a routinely scheduled, but important, report from the Defense Department; the other comes from one of the very …
Remember When Soldiers Did This?
Storm Clouds Gathering Over There…and Back Home
The disasters over the last three months — including American troops urinating on Afghan corpses, burning Qurans, and the massacre of Afghan civilians, including women and children, by at least one American soldier — have …
Bullets by the Billions
…the lead item (click on it to enlarge) in Monday’s contract announcement list from the Pentagon. More than $2.5 billion for bullets. Trust they’re getting the quantity discount. We’ve asked just how many bullets you get for that kind of money, and we’ll share the answer when we get it.
UPDATE: “The contract announcement …
F-22 Update: More Bad Air, More Big Bucks
At noon Thursday, Air Force officials said their F-22 fighters are ready for war despite pilots’ repeated breathing problems that may have played a role in a fatal crash and continue despite a seven-month probe into the vexing …
Subcontracting Out War
There have been times since 9/11 when there have been as many contractors working for the U.S. military in the war zones as U.S. troops. It’s one way to keep the troop count down.
The Air Force is seeking contractors to “launch” MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones all around the world, according to a “pre-proposal …
Another F-35 First
Bombs Away? Nope — Bombers Here to Stay!
Defense procurement is like the tides. Waves of reform are followed by waves of profligacy. Repeat, war infinitum. Take the Next-Generation Bomber, for example. We were just getting used to it, even calling it, almost affectionately, the ”Next-Gen Bomber” when the Air Force pronounced it dead two years ago.
But – surprise! …
“There is no known design issue that cannot be overcome by effective engineering.”