A Tale of two Ships

[Lurks Often]

5. There are a number of reasons weapons costs and the military budget have sky rocketed,

Last edited Mon Feb 27, 2012, 10:53 AM - Edit history (1)

First the increasingly sophisticated weapons, primarily in the electronics and propulsion methods have required increasingly skilled workers to make, with the corresponding higher labor costs.
Second, military equipment is being expected to stay in service longer and longer. As an example the average plane in the 1950's was replaced by a newer aircraft every 5-7 years, since they weren't expected to last that long, they were cheaper to make. Now they are expected to stay in service, depending on type, an average of 20-30 years, with certain aircraft, such as the B-52 and KC-135 being even older.*
Third, our standard of living compared to the average Russian or Chinese worker is much higher. If you compare American equipment to British and German equipment of like type, you'll find the costs are much the same on average.
Fourth, Congress often buys the military things it does not want or funds things that aren't necessary. The second engine by GE for the F-35 isn't something the Air Force wanted, having a second engine would have required 2 different supply lines, 2 different kinds training, etc.

Yes there are cost overruns, partly due to the makers and partly due to the military and government changing their minds and coming back to the makers and adding or changing something which adds to the cost.

I'll also point out that when American equipment faces Chinese or Russian equipment on the battlefield, the Russian and Chinese equipment invariably comes off second best, although I will grant that superior training on our part certainly is factor.

*More accurately aircraft are designed to last a certain amount of flight hours, which varies from plane to plane, the higher the amount of flight hours required, the more expensive it gets.