Repeatedly cancelling current procurement to fund a supposedly transformative successor can leave a service with neither system. The British Army left the Boxer programme, pursued several alternatives, and eventually returned from a less advantageous position. Individual changes had legitimate reasons, but the repeated pursuit of the best solution delayed a workable replacement. The FV432 entered service in 1963 as part of the FV430 family and remained in use into the 2020s through upgrades including Bulldog. A timely 90-percent solution can be adapted while it serves, whereas waiting for perfection keeps ageing equipment in frontline use.
Notable Point · 0:44-4:18
Chasing perfect replacements can preserve obsolete equipment
Britain's Boxer history and the long-lived FV432 show how cancelling workable programmes for promised future systems can delay renewal for decades.