Over the past 15 years, the United States Army has spent more than $ 32 billion on unfinished projects alone, without receiving a single completely new unit of military weapons and equipment in return for armament. The reason for such huge waste was the ill-considered implementation of the adopted defense programs, which were very often closed, and the released funds were spent on the modernization of existing and proven technologies. Now the United States Department of Defense intends to take a more balanced and competent approach to the implementation of new projects, but it will be extremely difficult to get off the beaten path of "squandering" billions of dollars.
Thus, it is estimated that today the US Air Force spends more than $ 150 billion annually. This significantly exceeds the financial allocations that the US Department of Defense allocated for the Air Force during the Cold War, when weapons were in the first place in the state programs of both the US and the USSR. But despite such a generous financial backing, the total size of the US tactical aircraft fleet is now significantly inferior to all indicators since 1945. At the same time, combat aircraft have significantly "aged" and have been in operation for much longer than in previous times. Taking this into account, a logical question arises - why the work on projects in which huge sums of money have been invested and which should contribute to the modernization and renewal of the existing fleet of air vehicles are being closed.
The United States Army Command, at the request of Secretary of State John McHugh, evaluated the implementation of the adopted military programs from 1995 to 2010. There is no publicly available report on the work carried out by the commission, at the same time, The Washington Post wrote, referring to the received copy of the document of interest, that the practical activities of the army leadership received a negative assessment, and the actions of senior officials in managing the implementation of various projects were called "unacceptable" … The United States Department of Defense received the same negative assessment.
Among the most expensive, but at the same time unfinished projects, the report included "Combat Systems of the Future" and the RAH-66 Comanche helicopter, designed for aerial reconnaissance. Only these two projects were spent $ 25 billion. Also, among other unfinished programs, the Crusader self-propelled artillery unit of 155 mm caliber, Stinger RPM Block II missile systems, ATACMS BAT and the Grizzly Breacher obstacle machine are mentioned.
Work on the creation of the RAH-66 Comanche reconnaissance helicopter for the US Air Force began in 1988. The new machine was created using invisibility technology and was supposed to completely replace all existing OH-6 Cayuse, UH-1 Iroquois, AH-1 Cobra and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. According to the order, it was planned to purchase 650 new Comanche helicopters at a cost of $ 39 billion. Work on the project was closed in 2004 by a joint decision of the command of the United States Army and the Pentagon, who decided that it would be cheaper and much more efficient to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles and improved long-standing helicopter models.
Almost eight billion dollars were spent on the development program of the RAH-66 helicopter, of which six - in the period 1995-2004. For the early termination of work on the project, Boeing and Sikorsky, who were directly involved in the creation of Comanche, received a penalty of almost $ 700 million. During the work on the project, two prototypes of the new helicopter were created, which are currently on display at the US Army Aviation Museum in Fort Rucker.
Curiously, instead of the expensive Comanche (about $ 60 million per unit), it was decided to create a somewhat cheap combat reconnaissance helicopter of the ARH-70 Arapaho type. The contract for the work on the creation of the machine was received by the Bell Helicopter of the USA. The helicopter made its first test flight back in 2006, but after two years, in October 2008, the Pentagon announced the closure of the project, since the final cost of Arapaho was significantly higher than the estimated one. In 2008, $ 533 million was allocated for the program.
Despite the huge losses of funds due to the closure of programs and projects, in 2003 it was decided to start work on the creation of a whole family of new combat systems - "Combat Systems of the Future" (FCS). The end product of the project was to create a whole range of unique military equipment from tanks and howitzers to unmanned aerial vehicles. The FCS project has undergone several changes throughout the entire implementation period, and in 2009 the work on it was closed. To this point, more than $ 19 billion has been spent on the development of FCS. As a result, the previously adopted project "Combat Systems of the Future" was practically completely changed and is currently known as the program for the improvement and modernization of the United States Army. It provides for the purchase of already existing weapons, as well as minor developments of some types of equipment, but already in full compliance with simplified requests.
Like all the reports we are considering on army projects, it also ends with recommendations on how to prevent such large-scale useless spending in the future. According to the document, it is necessary to fulfill only four basic requirements: strictly adhere to the time frame, clearly and competently manage risks, conclude long-term contracts only with trusted companies and provide the selected contractors with an adequate technical assignment. The army leadership, for its part, assured the Pentagon that of the four rules listed above, almost all have already been fulfilled.
It should be noted that thoughtless management of military projects has been characteristic of the American military at all times. There are no public documents on the closure of work on military projects of the United States Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, but it is safe to assume that these troops have invested a lot of dollars over the past 15 years on projects that are not destined to be implemented. One of the proofs in favor of this assumption is the work on the project of the carrier-based attack aircraft for the US Navy - A-12 Avenger II. On the implementation of the project, $ 3.88 billion was spent, but with this money, the contractor companies managed to create only one dimensional model of a rather promising attack aircraft. Work on the project was discontinued in January 1991, by order of the Pentagon.
Work on the creation of the 5th generation F-35 aircraft, which has been carried out in the United States for many years, is no less disastrous in the United States. This is stated by three American specialists in the field of military aviation technology John Boyd, Pierre Spray and Everest Riccioni from the pages of the British magazine "Janes Defense Weekly". People involved in the birth of today's famous F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter argue that the development of the F-35 aircraft "is the most unsuccessful project, in which there are more and more obvious signs of impending disaster."
