Troops left to fend for themselves after Army was warned of flaws in M4 rifle

[JASmith]

We have some of the best equipment and weapons of any nation in the world really when you see what other poor suckers are stuck with, especially for the size of military the US has. Being able to crank out quality and quantity is not easy, and there aren't any other nations that come to mind that compare well with how stringent the evaluation and vetting process is for US Army and Marine Infantry weapons, especially what goes on in Alaska. We have layers of engineers, T&E personnel, test platoons and OT&E units, and fielding initiatives that would make most other nations' head spin in scope, depth, and duration.

I can vet this from personal experience in the development world.

If we have a weakness, it is the beauracatic inertia that automatically follows a large and multiply redundant RDT&E system.