REMEMBER the THEME, folks.
Money, what we have it for and what we don't (Sig Heil).
"The estimated cost for each Zumwalt-class destroyer had jumped from $2 billion to more than $3 billion. The decision puts the spotlight on military procurement problems that have festered for decades: program mismanagement, ballooning costs, and increasingly sophisticated and rapidly changing technology that has outstripped the government's ability to pay for it.... "They're spending a lot of money and have very little to show for it."
That's ALL CRAP EXCUSES for WAR LOOTING!
Maybe someone should ask Dov Zakheim where all the $$$ is, huh?
That didn't make you feel any better, did it?
Up comes breakfast!
"Navy cancels $20b purchase of destroyers; Move hits Raytheon hard, imperils Bath shipyard jobs" by Robert Weisman and Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | July 24, 2008
A stunning Navy decision to abort a $20 billion plan for a new fleet of destroyers yesterday threw into question the future of Raytheon Co.'s largest defense program and renewed longstanding concerns about the fate of the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine.
The news set off a flurry of activity. Dugan Shipway, Bath Iron Works president, flew to Washington yesterday to discuss the impact of the cancellation with Maine lawmakers. The lawmakers and their staffs scheduled a series of meetings with the Navy to get more answers.
Amazing how ACTION is taken RIGHT AWAY when it comes to WAR $$$, huh?
What was that CARBON FOOTPRINT left by the flight?
Meanwhile, you are STILL WAITING on a FORECLOSURE BILL (that is rigged for banks anyway, not you), right, Americans?
How's that breakfast bowl of shit taste?
Raytheon, meanwhile, has assigned about 2,000 employees - in Tewksbury, Andover, Portsmouth, R.I., and elsewhere - to work on the new destroyer's combat systems. The company had counted on the Zumwalt program to help catapult it into the ranks of top military contractors, which not only build weapons but integrate sophisticated technology into larger systems. It was the biggest of the company's thousands of military contracting programs.
The older Arleigh Burke models, which cost less than half the price of the DDG-1000s, have combat systems developed by a Raytheon rival, Lockheed Martin Corp.
"A decision to stop DDG-1000 procurement and restart DDG-51 could shift combat system work from Raytheon to Lockheed," said Ronald O'Rourke, a naval specialist at the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress.
Oh, so it is just WAR LOOT that is going to be MOVED AROUND!
Lockheed, Raytheon, is their really a difference?
It's ALL WAR MACHINE!
Raytheon has not disclosed how much in total it has received from the Navy so far for its work on the Zumwalt program. But the company won a $3 billion development contract in 2005 and a nearly $1 billion production contract last year for the combat systems.
The estimated cost for each Zumwalt-class destroyer had jumped from $2 billion to more than $3 billion. The decision puts the spotlight on military procurement problems that have festered for decades: program mismanagement, ballooning costs, and increasingly sophisticated and rapidly changing technology that has outstripped the government's ability to pay for it.
"You'd have to say the Pentagon acquisition system is broken," said former naval architect Jon B. Kutler, chairman of Admiralty Partners, a private equity firm specializing in aerospace and defense. "They're spending a lot of money and have very little to show for it."
Cancellation of the Zumwalt-class destroyer potentially could have a greater impact on Raytheon than on General Dynamics, some analysts said. "This is bad news for Raytheon," said Loren B. Thompson, chief operating officer at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va., think tank.
But program executives at Raytheon have maintained that shipboard systems it has designed for the Zumwalt class could be used on future Navy vessels and "backfitted" to older models such as the DDG-51. While several analysts questioned that, others said Raytheon's development work is seen as critical to future Navy combat.
"They want the technology Raytheon is developing to mature," said Patrick J. McCarthy, defense analyst for the Washington investment bank Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group.
The termination of the Zumwalt program is the latest sign of trouble for the Navy's plans to achieve a 313-ship fleet. The Navy's shipbuilding program has been under intense scrutiny from Congress following construction delays and skyrocketing costs.
--MORE--"
We ALREADY SPEND MORE than the REST of the WORLD COMBINED on "DEFENSE."
WTF?!
Why do we "need" all this shit when our COUNTRY is CRUMBLING?
This government has FAILED YOU, America, and you need to ABOLISH IT RIGHT NOW!!!
