Procurement booms create corruption opportunities across services

The Royal Navy is said to have faced serious political and procurement problems in the late nineteenth century before Fisher-era reforms reduced them. The Italian Navy is presented as struggling with related issues from its creation, while most navies face recurring exposure because ships involve large contracts. After the Second World War, air forces became especially vulnerable as governments rushed money toward novel aircraft and projects that could be sold as transformative. Failed concepts and vaporware persisted until institutions learned to evaluate the new technology and control the spending more effectively.