US Army Modernization: Not In a Good Place

• US Army Acquisition Undersecretary Heidi Shyu described her service’s modernization efforts as approaching a “death spiral.” That it not just the type of anti-sequestration rethoric we’ve grown used to, as Shyu sounds genuinely frustrated with the amount of paperwork that program managers have to file for each program milestone.

• Case in point, the US Army’s follow up to the ill-fated GCV has been dubbed the Future Fighting Vehicle (FFV) and will remain [Army Times] just a notional program until at least 2016.

• The CSIS think tank released its analysis of US defense contract spending over 2000-13, which is the topic of today’s video further below. There are plenty of good charts in this report, including one illustrating the dramatic shrinkage in land vehicle procurement.

• It’s our understanding that readers who have not answered our annual survey yet are overwhelmed with guilt. It’s OK, here’s the link.

DoD Regulations

• The GAO released another scorching page turner: Specialty Metals: DOD Dissemination of National Security Waiver Information Could Enhance Awareness and Compliance with Restrictions. We’re told it’s on Heidi Shyu’s bedside table.