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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Skybolt" data-source="post: 36908" data-attributes="member: 145"><p>Problem is that there are not so many big contracts anymore, and the pressure to "stick to a decision" for decades to come (for good reason, like lowering recurring costs) effectively blocks any possibility to re-enter the fray once you are out. In the good old days, the military could tweak the specification on the stride w/o so much protests because everyone knew that they would have another chance in a few years (actually, they thought they had). So, either the military starts to do a very strict specification and stays there for all the duration of the competition, with a rigorous and transparent process, or protestations would be inescapable: it's survival. Since requirements often change, the way forward would be probably a return to the little-batch (relatively) policy of the 50s or a re-do of split production contracts. Costs would rise, but probably if you add up the cost of the delays, you'll probably go even.</p></blockquote><p></p>