Immunizing weapons against 'next-war-it
is'.
by Erwin, Sandra I.
In a memorable turn of phrase, Defense Secretary Robert Gates
chided the Pentagon's weapons acquisition establishment for having
an extreme case of "next war-it is"--instead of buying
technologies for today's wars, the services are obsessed with
futuristic weapons that may never be needed. Gates' comments have
sent generals, admirals and contractors scrambling for ways to show that
their cherished programs are not suffering from such a disease. A case
in point is the Army's $160-billion Future Combat Systems. The FCS
will not be fully deployed for another decade or so, but Army leaders
want to make it clear that the program does not defy Gates' stance.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
"We fully understand and are adhering to Secretary Gates'
guidance," said Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes, Army deputy chief of
staff "What he has essentially said is 'don't get next
war-itis' ... We think everything we're doing in FCS has a
direct relationship to what soldiers in combat need today."
EMAIL COMMENTS TO SERWIN@NDIA.ORG
COPYRIGHT 2008 National Defense Industrial
Association Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.