I can do math better than Rummy
Sep. 25th, 2006 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danalwynAlso possibly better than Schoomaker,
Consider this:
1) Wikipedia claims that a full set of Interceptor Body Armor costs $1,585.
2) Therefore, to equip, say, 150,000 soldiers would take about $237,750,000.
3) The Army Budget for FY 2003 was about $91,000,000,000.
4) The budget for the now-cancelled Comanche helicopter for FY 2003 was listed as $910,200,000 (on top of another $900 million for the Apache Longbow).
So why do we still not have enough body armor to equip our soldiers? I know that there are important purchases to be made, like killer robots and UV helmets and lasers that try and blind people, but shouldn't we at least give the people who do the fighting and the dying a better chance?
Of course, that's just me. It's probably unpatriotic to think this way.
Consider this:
1) Wikipedia claims that a full set of Interceptor Body Armor costs $1,585.
2) Therefore, to equip, say, 150,000 soldiers would take about $237,750,000.
3) The Army Budget for FY 2003 was about $91,000,000,000.
4) The budget for the now-cancelled Comanche helicopter for FY 2003 was listed as $910,200,000 (on top of another $900 million for the Apache Longbow).
So why do we still not have enough body armor to equip our soldiers? I know that there are important purchases to be made, like killer robots and UV helmets and lasers that try and blind people, but shouldn't we at least give the people who do the fighting and the dying a better chance?
Of course, that's just me. It's probably unpatriotic to think this way.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-26 02:10 am (UTC)It makes me wonder if there's something going on besides poor money management and politics. Do you have any statistics on what the Army is buying instead? (Besides the canceled Comanche? And did that price only include purchase or was it also development, labor, etc?) Because personally, if the choice is between walking and hand-to-hand combat in my Interceptor Body Armor or cruising around with a few people in a tank and shooting from a (relatively) safe distance....well, I think I'd have to choose the tank. Actually, I'd rather have both the tank and the body armor, but that's not likely to happen.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-26 03:05 am (UTC)Current top R&D priorities:
Future Combat Systems ($3.4 billion)
Stryker Combat Brigade System ($905 million)
Patriot Upgrade ($872 million)
UH-60 Blackhawk ($691 million)
CH-47 Cargo Modifications ($688.3 million)
Maybe I should explain what all this stuff is used for...