Army vows to change way it buys weapons - Yahoo! News: "The U.S. Army needs to dramatically improve the way it buys weapons to ensure that equipment for soldiers is still relevant when they finally get it, the service's No. 2 uniformed officer said on Tuesday.
'We have to look at the entire system and how we do things, and take into account the rapid technological change that we're seeing today,' Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli said at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference.
'I don't understand how we can take 8 to 10 years or even longer and put something on the street and have it be relevant,' he told reporters after delivering an even more blunt assessment to a panel discussion: 'I'm a firm believer that it's going to take the big bang theory.'
Chiarelli and other top Army acquisition officials said they are already changing the system to 'buy fewer things more often' and leverage rapid technology changes, especially given mounting pressures on the U.S. defense budget."
