Contractor incentives and delayed political accountability

The closing criticism is that procurement can become an activity pursued for its own sake, detached from delivering equipment to the armed forces. Research and development, and to a degree maintenance, are identified as the sources of company income that weaken interest in building more units. The allegation concerns the incentives for delivering quantities of equipment. The equipment gap becomes concrete when the armed forces are asked to carry out a mission. A leader responsible for the earlier decision may already have left office, leaving a successor's criticism with little practical consequence. The argument connects delayed accountability with the gap between purchasing activity and available capability.