Aircraft CF-02, an F-35 Lightning II Carrier Variant attached to the F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 completes a flyover of the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000). US Navy Photo
Defense News: The next Sputnik: Here's why US stands to lose technological edge to China
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — As defense companies struggle to balance the interests of the military customers with those of shareholders, the Pentagon needs to rethink how it buys or else risk sacrificing its technological edge.
The Pentagon can’t shut its eyes to the fact that a healthy bottom line for defense companies is in the best interest of the military and essential to ensure future capabilities, said Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, speaking on a panel at the Reagan National Defense Forum Saturday.
“I am an unapologetic capitalist and free marketeer,” said Spencer, who worked on Wall Street for 16 years. “One thing we need to be responsible for is the health of the industrial base. It’s a dance that has to be done. You’re out there with a fiduciary responsibility to buy the best gear in the most efficient, best way you can. Now you add in, ‘I have to help an industry in a certain area,’ or ‘I have to make the capital investments myself’ — it flies in the face of full and open competition. But we have to live with that to get gear.”
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WNU Editor: The U.S. is still the world's leader when it comes to military R&D .... U.S. Is Still The World Leader When It Comes To Military R&D (November 15, 2017). But I can see the day when China will be on par with the U.S. .... China is catching up to the US on science and engineering spending, report finds (The Verge).
It's simple:
ReplyDelete1. They have 1.4bn people, the US is at around 300mn
2. They have a governmental form that does not suffer from the side effects of democracy. (you know, like free speech, human rights, etc) Stuff gets done over there
3. The US is deeply embroiled in culture wars. Women against Men, Blacks against White, Liberals against everyone
4. The US is f'ed for 3 more years. And if the Democrats cannot get their act together, you might actually see Trump for a total of 7 more years
5. Education in the US, aside from some really good universities, is a joke. Student from the US, when they came to my school, first apologized for their poor math skills.. jokingly, of course.. but there was truth to it, they were about 2-3 years behind, based on their stupid curriculum