Getting to the battle fastest with the mostest
A post-World War II cartoon gets to a deep truth in defense acquisition. It shows American tanks on trial, supposedly for being outgunned and relatively […]
production
Podcast: The power of the industry consortium with Stephanie Halcrow and Moshe Schwartz
In this episode of the Acquisition Talk podcast, we listen in an event hosted by the Center for Government Contracting to discuss a recent paper […]
500 Javelin-per-day requirement in Ukraine: Is it reasonable and what could it cost?
I want to come back to an article from the weekly headlines real quickly: The Ukrainians have submitted similar lists in recent weeks but a […]
The indecision problem of capital investment during times of crisis
One of the biggest lessons I had reading through WWII industrial mobilization literature is the waffling that goes on in the early days. Companies are […]
How the US auto industry scaled and improved Army tanks in WWII
One of the first things he [Bill Knudsen] does in the process, he makes a call in the summer of 1940 to his pal KT […]
Why the Army ditched its organic design for OMFV
The Army’s decision to not submit its own design bid for the restarted Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) prototype competition was to remove concerns over […]
Two definitions of weapon systems “concurrency”
Because of the uncertainties and perceived criticality of ICBMs, the WDD and Ramo-Wooldridge believed it unwise to rely on only one approach. If it did […]
How did the US Air Force become the smallest, oldest it’s ever been?
John Baum: Why do we now have the smallest, oldest Air Force in our nation’s history? What does this mean for the future? Mark […]
Elon Musk recommends reasoning from first principles
Well, I do think there’s a good framework for thinking. It is physics. You know, the sort of first-principles reasoning. Generally, I think there are […]
Boeing’s KC-46 struggles, but here’s the payoff
The U.S. Air Force on Thursday finally accepted and took ownership from Boeing of its first KC-46A air-to-air refueling tanker, though it pointed to flaws […]