|
Having been a defense contractor (although at service component/Combatant Command level) for just shy of a decade, I'd like to present one other very significant thing to consider in project development--the ever present customer requirements shift. Folks here may remember a year, year and a half ago reading or hearing about a contracting company losing a huge intelligence satellite contract due to being years overdue and billions over budget. The flip side to the story is that the project was initiated over a decade ago, and in that time technology improved by leaps and bounds. With every spiral delivery of the product, the customer (military and GS decision makers) would say "hey, add this feature", which of course in turn added development time and cost. The contractor would point out these problems, but the customers insisted. Add up enough of these "mission creep" requirements, and only a fool would expect something to be on time and within budget. I've personally seen the exact same thing in milcon contracts in two separate, $25+ million buildings in which I was involved. "Hey, move that 5000sqft room from this side of the building to the other side." "How about we add two more bathrooms to this floor?" "We need NIPR/SIPR/RELCAN available at every workstation." "I don't want that elevator that close to the general's office."
Now I'm sure at the individual soldier equipment level these problems aren't as large in scope, but I'm certain they're present none the less. One only need to look at the H&K Mk23 and the Gregory/Bianchi BALCS ruck for shining examples of projects overseen by too many cooks.
|