The top brass at the Pentagon is signaling in no uncertain terms that the defense industry needs to clean up its act and accept that the government can no longer throw away money on ill-conceived military projects.Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz on Wednesday had some tough talk for defense contractors, saying firms must stop "blowing smoke" and over-promising about what they can deliver.
"Don't blow smoke up my ass" about what a military platform can do and when it will be ready, Schwartz told a tense and silent ballroom filled with defense industry executives. "There's no time for it. There's no patience for it. OK?"
The comments were the latest example of Pentagon officials speaking bluntly about the future of the U.S. defense sector, which they say must change rapidly to accommodate the nation's new fiscal reality.
"If industry makes a commitment, you will have to deliver," Schwartz said. "There will be less tolerance ... for not delivering."
Officials say the future of the defense sector will be considerably different from the flush days after 9/11, when companies were handed what amounted to a blank check as the country fought two wars and took on terrorism.
Now, budgets are shrinking in Washington, and this time even the military isn't immune. There is general agreement among Democrats and Republicans that defense cuts must be "on the table" as the country looks to pare back the spiraling deficit, though differences remain over how large those reductions should be.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already announced that the service will reduce its spending by $78 billion over the next five years, and the service's austerity drive is likely to accelerate in the years ahead.
Schwartz, who is rumored to be on the short list for the next Joint Chiefs chairman, said the budget crunch means the Pentagon will have "no patience" for exaggerated weapons-sales pitches.
"Cost-control will be an issue in everything we do," from weapon programs to healthcare, the air chief said.
Contractors often focus their bids for Pentagon work on platforms and subsystems that cannot realistically be developed, tested and delivered on the proposed budget and schedule. The results typically are program delays and cost overruns that force the military to buy fewer models or cancel programs altogether.
Now, speaking as a contractor for the DoD, there is a lot of things that could be scaled back and areas cut. However, the politicians and the military are just as much to blame. Nothing like having a proposal get feature creep and every General, Colonel and Major throwing in their needs and bloating the thing to the point of uselessness. Also, the there are lots and lots of little programs that are the protected "turf" of several units and they swear the US will be left naked and defenseless against our enemies without their Windows 2000 server that no one has the budget to upgrade and is now pretty much useless.
There is lots of blame for bloated budgets to go around and you could cut billions and keep 97% of our capabilities by doing the following:
Streamline the process. Too much red tape and regulations. When an entire department of a contractor company of 30 people is spent trying to follow all the rules and regulations you know things are fucked.
Streamline systems. Cut the old shit, build the new shit with off the shelf systems that could be put in place in half the time and 10% of the cost. There is a push for doing this, but it takes forever to get software and systems approved and everyone wants their own little tweak added to it.
No more fiefdoms. That Lt. Col that whines about his Windows 2000 servers that can track one feature of the enemy? Don't need it. Guarantee it has been replaced and is traced by at least two other databases. Kill these obsolete systems.
The above will free up billions and bring systems to the battlefield quicker. Believe me, there is lots and lots more, but that is a good start.