Where should the Pentagon be spending its devlopment dollars?
Obviously drones are getting a lot of press and development $$'s, with the Navy looking to field its UCAV this decade, and the Air force looking to have some weaponized drones that can fight in contested airspace here soon. But what is being over looked/neglected, what can we do without, what do we absolutely need?
I know from the Army side of things, I'm surprised the HMMWV replacement has been pushed out again and again, as has the M-16 replacement(died for what, the billionth time now?), the and the new "Family of Vehicals" that was supposed to see us get an updated mobile artillery platform, anti tank, and infantry combat vehicles. Are these priorities, or have we been doing alright without them?
How do the Navy people here feel about our near and long term fleet look out. We are looking at the leanest fleet in the US has had in a loooong time, tasked to cover a wide stretch of ocean that is difficult for a soldier like me to even comprehend. Yet ship after ship seems to get canceled, or neutered on the drawing board.
I remeber back before we invaded Iraq again, there was talk from those on the hill that Congress will never again authorize the development of a new Tank, saying they where outdated platforms. And then the M1 preformed spectacularly in the cities of Iraq, and they literally couldn't buy upgrade kits for them fast enough.
Obviously my interest are colored by my military and now civilian experience. I have strong feeling about the F-35, and the proposed re-engining of the UH-60's and AH-64s, but what do you guys think the priorities should be in these leaner times to come? And what developments are you guys excited to see fielded in the near and distant future?
What systems/vehicles do you think should we be focusing on for "value engineering" efforts?
I have no idea when you posted this but I'm just seeing it now.
I would focus as much systems development on commercial off the shelf vehicles as possible and only use developmental systems by exception.
I would value engineer our most expensive replacement parts that are only made by one company to lower their costs as well as looking at our current systems to see what changes could be made to lower maintenance time and costs.
It is all about what is there for training and defense protection for the nation as well as the military.
On that same note, the projects that are giving the desired immediate needs will most likely get the axe via cancellation or unknown delay time frame and then eventually cancelled. This will be a debatable issue for the next few years to come and maybe even farther depending on the politics and the leadership in the future, as that is something that is always a major player in all the decisions on projects whether it is admitted or not.
World's first manned flight with an electric multicopter
*** Maiden flight of 2-seater 2013: http://youtu.be/tNulEa8LTHI *** On October 21st, 2011, Thomas Senkel of e-volo made the first manned flight with an elect...