I remember watching BAE (a local defense contractor) roll out their brand-new mobile field gun.

They had light show and AC/DC playing in the background...and the thing wouldn't move.  They couldn't even get the engine started. 

A complete embarrassment, to be sure.

The truly sad thing is the DOD probably purchased it anyway.

This is how we 'strengthen our military'.

We buy new equipment.

It doesn't matter whether or not it works. It's new. It's the best. It's on the cutting edge of advanced technology. That's how it was sold to the Pentagon leadership . . . And they bought it.

Our DOD spends our money without regard to value and quality. This has to stop. There is an obvious need for oversight in DOD procurement.

Conspiracy Theory wrote:

They don't need quality or value because they have a bottomless pit of tax money to spend.

Not to mention the level of  'contributions' made by defense contractors.

 


No doubt. And the bottom of that bottomless pit will get significantly deeper if a fear mongering isolationist manages to weasel his way into the White House.

I just want to see one of these flag waving, patriotic politicians (most of whom never spent one day in the armed forces) that continually talk about our 'heroes' say that they're going to significantly reduce spending on weapons systems and spend a little more on veterans benefits.

I had a little experience with HVAC systems for the Navy, primarily submarines. As I recall, when going over design specifications with DOD representatives one thing we continually bumped heads with them about was outdated Milspecs on various components. That ranged from specified coatings on fasteners to electrical wiring components, and larger raw and purchased materials. The DOD military specifications were older and to get them to change them to newer, better components was like pulling teeth and took forever. They were stuck on the current specs and preferred suppliers (for obvious reasons) and even when you could show them that the newer specs and suppliers could provide superior components at a lower cost, they balked at accepting the change. At one point they insisted that we purchase fasteners to their outdated spec (an outdated galvanized coating) from their preferred vendor, we were forced to purchase a massive quantity to meet their preferred vendor's minimum run quantity. Due to the fact that the coating spec was so outdated, we couldn't use the overage on any other product, so they were scrapped and the Navy paid for the entire quantity. We found this same mentality pervasive throughout their system.

So, yes, I understand that their processes and procedures when it comes to procurement are difficult to change, but any other company that followed their standards would find it hard to survive in a competitive environment.

Last edited by Rongone (7/27/2016 1:35 pm)

Goose wrote:

To play devil's advocate,,, it is probably the most complex war machine ever built.
 

 

To play the devil's advocate . . . I wonder if a guy like Elon Musk would use that 'most complex' excuse to explain quality problems and cost overruns.