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From: David Baker
Date: 06 Feb 2001
Time: 18:57:01
The concept of "Fly before you buy" has been proven incapable of stemming the pork-barrel politics inherent in military/industrial acquisitions. There are simply too many ex/retired military people involved in the defense industry to objectively evaluate new technologies, and assess requirements for new weapons. The "revolving door" of defense employment virtually guarantees conflicts of interest when a major contractor bids for a weapons contract. The Osprey, B-2, F-22, F-18 upgrade....All are unnecessary, and all can be traced to the status quo of the military/industrial structure. Why several generals weren't fired in the wake of these disasters betrays the nature of this wasteful beast. Our national status as a military superpower should be viewed as a disadvantage, since the mere application of that phrase somehow justifies implementing weapons with no identified threat, while accepting below par performance from succeeding modifications. We have, in place, sufficient weapons for every threat, including the vaunted "Dual Theater" scenario proposed as a minimum capability for force structure. Spending billions of dollars on white elephants takes precious funding away from maintaining proven techology, and adequately compensating those who are trained and ready to operate it.