Defence shells out for bespoke when ‘off the shelf’ works

So there’s someone else The auditor general’s scathing report It’s about a major Defense acquisition costing $7 billion and counting — in fact, “one of the largest capability acquisition projects in the military’s history.” Ho hmm, you might think; it is now widely accepted that Defense is completely dysfunctional and is wasting billions of your money.

But the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report on the “Redback” infantry fighting vehicle, built by South Korean defense giant Hanwha with a turret made by Elbit (with the full knowledge of the government, despite its lies), gives us an excellent insight into what is probably the longest-running defense procurement problem of all: the Department of Defense’s obsession with demanding bespoke solutions from industry rather than buying a perfect kit off the shelf.