"For more than a year, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been warning the military-industrial complex that the way its buys weapons just plain sucks -- and that what it buys is often more geared towards a Cold War-type scenario than today's guerrilla fights..."
"When he was renominated by President Obama, Gates and his aides began promising that its budget for 2010 was going to include major, major changes to the Pentagon's $1.6 trillion weapons portfolio. On Monday, that budget is supposed to be delivered. It will represent a "fundamental shift in direction” for the department, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today. "These are not changes to the margins.""
"...Gates' people warn that no decisions have been finalized. But the biggest blow could land on Future Combat Systems (FCS), the Army's $200 billion family of projects to build a next generation of lighter, more-lethal, better-networked vehicles. Currently, that includes eight models, like new-school tanks, armored personnel carriers, cannons, and medical vehicles."
I could be wrong, but I think this includes the high-tech cannon that Senator Inhofe has been championing. That translates to fewer jobs in Oklahoma, but ultimately, if the military doesn't need these systems because they aren't the right tools for the job, ending the programs is in the best interest of both the military and the taxpayers.
