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Do more with less

If any doubt remains that the military must overhaul the way it buys weapons systems, look no further than the Navy’s 15-year effort to build a 65-foot minisub for its SEAL commando teams.

Years of requirements creep and development issues caused costs to soar on the Advanced SEAL Delivery System, which finally entered service in 2006. Two years later, a fire so badly damaged the craft that the Navy decided not to repair it.

Ultimately, $1 billion was squandered on the ASDS.

The Pentagon must do better, especially with a budget poised to shrink. That’s shrink, not flatten. David Ochmanek, the Pentagon’s point man for force transformation and resources, recently admitted that current military hardware commitments over the next five years exceed the administration’s spending plans by as much as $60 billion.

Meanwhile, the Army is about to add 22,000 soldiers, with all their attendant personnel costs. And exiting Iraq and boosting troop levels in Afghanistan will cost tens of billions more in coming years. At the moment, these costs are unaccounted for.

Ochmanek said any cuts would be made judiciously. He also said the Pentagon may ask the White House for more money.

There’s no doubt the Pentagon will have to ask. The question is where the money will be found.

With supplemental funding on the wane, the gunsights will fall squarely on research and development and procurement. The services already have been asked to offer sacrificial lambs.

All of this means recent cuts and cancellations to programs like the F-22 fighter and DDG 1000 destroyer could seem minor compared to what’s ahead.

The days of lavish budgets are over. The military must figure out how to get more for less.