The Pentagon hasn't emphasized fuel efficiency for its aircraft, ships and vehicles, despite shortages that slowed U.S. troops in the two Iraq wars and warnings from its own experts.
"Although significant warfighting, logistics and cost benefits occur when weapons systems are made more fuel-efficient, these benefits are not valued or emphasized" in any of the services, the Defense Science Board, the Pentagon's most prestigious technical advisory panel, concluded in 2001.
That's still true, said Jacques Gansler, the undersecretary of Defense who sponsored the study.
Since the end of the Cold War, the military's mission has changed. Instead of M1 Abrams tanks racing forward from well-supplied bases to stop a Soviet attack in Europe, the military now fights far from supply depots. Often, troops and equipment have to travel on short notice.
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