Unguided Missiles: How America Buys Its Weapons

The B-1 bomber…the cruise missile…the Trident submarine…the Trident missile…the M-1 tank…the MX missile… Why were these weapons built? Why are they so expensive? Why don’t they work as promised? Americans are generally aware that a huge problem exists in the ways and means of defense procurement. What few understand, however, is the actual process of buying a weapon. is the fullest and best description of this process yet published, from milestone zero, the determination of need, to actual production of the piece of hardware.