It isn't glamorous, only useful. The generals and admirals who recommend or acquiesce in the purchase of most of the systems we are buying resemble the middle-aged man who buys a Porsche he cannot afford instead of the family van he needs. Our military is short of spare parts, training funds, trucks and infantrymen. We are buying the future force the generals and admirals, Congressmen and contractors want, not the one we will need. This is waste just short of treason.
Tradition is sometimes the reason, often the excuse.
Defense contractors contribute mightily to political campaigns, as well as providing the world's most expensive jobs in voting districts. In the defense community, corporate welfare is an art form. All this is clearly wrong. The reason is greed. Anyone who has served in the Pentagon has slipped on the slime trails that retired generals and admirals leave in their wake as they navigate the hallways bearing a defense contractor's business card with their name on it.