From the vineyards: why the services don´t get the weapons they need and why they aren´t likely to

It is argued that the procurement of weapons by the US armed services is in crisis. Even before the bribery scandals, there was ample evidence that the whole process was in disarray. The author, a retired civil service electronics engineer, offers his personal opinion of how this happened. Two unsuccessful programs are discussed: an airborne radar designed for the US Air Force to search for vehicles moving on the ground and the Sergeant York, the US Army´s attempt to build a radar-pointed, long-range, anti-aircraft gun.<>