NBC: US Army doesn't want to buy "Trophy" and rather wait 4 years for a US system
Thursday, January 11th, 2007 - 1:59am
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16545885/
Quote:
WASHINGTON - In September, NBC News first reported on a fierce debate within the Pentagon over an Israeli-made system that shoots rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) out of the sky. The Army seems intent on killing the system, but officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense believe it can save American lives.
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OFT subjected Trophy to 30 tests and found it is "more than 98 percent" effective at killing RPGs. Officials then made plans to battle-test the system on some Stryker fighting vehicles headed to Iraq this year.But the U.S. Army blocked that testing. Why? Pentagon sources tell NBC News "” and internal Army documents seem to confirm "” that Army officials consider Trophy a threat to their crown jewel, the $160 billion Future Combat System (FCS). Under FCS, the Army is paying Raytheon Co. $70 million to build an RPG-defense system from scratch.
check the video . Is the US Army saying that its soldiers are expendable ?
Acording to what i've saw in that video they are lying so they can get an American made system made from scratch.
If that is true, it seems a waste of money to re-invent the wheel.
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Fixed it for you.
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Shouldn't be much of a surprise. Seems the Pentagon has had far more interest in creating projects to feed the arms industry then it has in creating the most efficient military force for decades now.
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
I'll remind everyone that our army has no particular qualms against getting stuff from Israel. Nearly all of our ammo is produced over there. This seems to be more about giving US defense firms business than anything.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
It's Not Invented Here syndrome, and it has plagued the armed services since at least the 1940s, and maybe earlier. It's gotten worse as the services have gotten bigger.
I think the article would make a far more convincing point if they had bothered to actually confirm details rather then just bounce questions between the DoD and the defense firm.
The Stryker vehicles themselves aren't American products but were instead derived from a European design. The Army recently selected for a new, large helicopter program a model made by Eurocopter. The Army's newest artillery piece is made by the British. And then there's all the parts made by overseas firms and used by U.S. defense contractors. "Not invented here" is no longer as big an issue at the Army that it once was.
The Strykers are based on the Piranha III by MOWAG (General Dynamics), yes, but we'd been using Piranha III derivatives for years before the Stryker, including the LAV-25 and LAV III.
NOTE: This is not a doodle bug.
Spore
Those are used by the Marines. We were talking about the army. The two have been very different in their procurement strategies over the years.