Look who is flying the EH 101
- Thread starter 54/102 CEF
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I understand the concern with buy American but sometimes its not possible. We didnt produce enough 5.56mm ammunition so we had to go buy the ammunition overseas. The defense business has shrunk considerably from say 30 year's ago. Like the rest of industry
they have gone to outsourcing and just in time delivery. This is why it is important to order spare parts[for example] regularly to keep the contractor's busy. If they cant stay busy they will get out of the defense business. A shipyard cannot survive on 1 ship order once in a blue moon or the odd refurbishment they must have steady orders. For example the CPF should have been marketed aggressively in the export market to keep the yard busy and to keep costs down for future ship orders. Sometimes a critical defense industry just needs to be subsidized or it will disappear. Once its gone it never comes back.
they have gone to outsourcing and just in time delivery. This is why it is important to order spare parts[for example] regularly to keep the contractor's busy. If they cant stay busy they will get out of the defense business. A shipyard cannot survive on 1 ship order once in a blue moon or the odd refurbishment they must have steady orders. For example the CPF should have been marketed aggressively in the export market to keep the yard busy and to keep costs down for future ship orders. Sometimes a critical defense industry just needs to be subsidized or it will disappear. Once its gone it never comes back.
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I am reminded of another ammunition shortage due to "peacetime" planning.
In World War I the Brits ran out of Field Gun ammunition in the early months of the war. Even during later years, one of the reasons for the lulls between offensives was the need to stockpile artillery rounds. At the outbreak there was both indequate stockpiles and inadequate industrial capacity to meet the needs. The capacity never really caught up with demand.
This is often put at the feet of "bad" planning. But in part the problem was that all sides prepared for one war (they all saw the situation roughly the same - a war of manoeuvre on an open battlefield with the offense dominating - strikes me as vaguely familiar now I write it down) but ended up fighting another one entirely as they ended up playing to their enemy's weaknesses and not his strengths. Unfortunately all sides had the same weaknesses because their planning and preparations started from the same appreciation.
The plans did not survive contact.....
In World War I the Brits ran out of Field Gun ammunition in the early months of the war. Even during later years, one of the reasons for the lulls between offensives was the need to stockpile artillery rounds. At the outbreak there was both indequate stockpiles and inadequate industrial capacity to meet the needs. The capacity never really caught up with demand.
This is often put at the feet of "bad" planning. But in part the problem was that all sides prepared for one war (they all saw the situation roughly the same - a war of manoeuvre on an open battlefield with the offense dominating - strikes me as vaguely familiar now I write it down) but ended up fighting another one entirely as they ended up playing to their enemy's weaknesses and not his strengths. Unfortunately all sides had the same weaknesses because their planning and preparations started from the same appreciation.
The plans did not survive contact.....
