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Good luck getting the Air Force to redesign a WW2-era plane. If there's one thing I learned reading the Boyd biography, it's that the Pentagon is constitutional

Good luck getting the Air Force to redesign a WW2-era plane. If there's one thing I learned reading the Boyd biography, it's that the Pentagon is constitutionally incapable of thinking pragmatically about technology.

crikli 11y ago
Sounds like a good read, are you referring to this? http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed-ebook/dp/B000FA5UEG/ http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed-ebook/d...
- vinceguidry 11y ago
  Yeah. The Pentagon would rather burn billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on probable duds than iterate slowly on proven designs. Even after Boyd showed them conclusively how stupid that was.
  - engi_nerd 11y ago
    The Pentagon is, for practical purposes, forbidden from iteration because that's not how their process is structured. This hellacious chart [0], (which I love pointing out), is the official diagram for the Pentagon's weapons purchasing process. This process matches requirements in federal law. In other words, this process is mandated by Congress. How do you shoehorn iterative development into this? Where does it fit? It doesn't, so it doesn't happen. I hardly think Boyd was the first guy to show them how dumb they can be. [0]: http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/09/atl_wall_chart.jpg http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/09/atl_wal...
stretchwithme 11y ago
If The Pentagon Wars got only half of the problems right, this system needs to completely changed. People who decide how to spend the money should not be going to defense contractors when they retire. And a problem that Ike pointed out 62 years ago shouldn't take this long to be changed. How we elect our representatives is the root of the problem.
- vinceguidry 11y ago
  I think the real problem is the generals. They're not politically accountable, they're actually not really accountable to anybody. When they stand firm, not even the President can really tell them no. But, ultimately, someone has to decide how our weapons are designed and built, I'm not sure how to come up with a better system.
  - stretchwithme 11y ago
    Congress pays for all these programs. It is not holding the military accountable.

crikli 11y ago

Sounds like a good read, are you referring to this? http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed-ebook/dp/B000FA5UEG/ http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed-ebook/d...

vinceguidry 11y ago
Yeah. The Pentagon would rather burn billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on probable duds than iterate slowly on proven designs. Even after Boyd showed them conclusively how stupid that was.
- engi_nerd 11y ago
  The Pentagon is, for practical purposes, forbidden from iteration because that's not how their process is structured. This hellacious chart [0], (which I love pointing out), is the official diagram for the Pentagon's weapons purchasing process. This process matches requirements in federal law. In other words, this process is mandated by Congress. How do you shoehorn iterative development into this? Where does it fit? It doesn't, so it doesn't happen. I hardly think Boyd was the first guy to show them how dumb they can be. [0]: http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/09/atl_wall_chart.jpg http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/09/atl_wal...

stretchwithme 11y ago

If The Pentagon Wars got only half of the problems right, this system needs to completely changed. People who decide how to spend the money should not be going to defense contractors when they retire. And a problem that Ike pointed out 62 years ago shouldn't take this long to be changed. How we elect our representatives is the root of the problem.

vinceguidry 11y ago
I think the real problem is the generals. They're not politically accountable, they're actually not really accountable to anybody. When they stand firm, not even the President can really tell them no. But, ultimately, someone has to decide how our weapons are designed and built, I'm not sure how to come up with a better system.
- stretchwithme 11y ago
  Congress pays for all these programs. It is not holding the military accountable.