Originally Posted by
Asturias56
No doubt by "corruption" he was referring to the post Civil Service/Armed Forces employment by defence companies
There's 2 levels of such employment - firstly, the top-level (Board/Director) people who have the political leads back into the MoD/Government who are useful for securing Contracts and such like but don't actually deal in the detail. They are an "overhead" really.
What may be becoming a bigger issue is, due to the contraction of the Armed Services, there seem to be less people at middle management/design level within Industry with previous experience of working within the MoD (specifically operating on the Front Line) in a previous life. Just the impression I've got over the last few years. Some very bright people/boffins but, if you've not been in a foxhole at 3 a.m. in the freezing rain - well, you can't really imagine it! The result is that the chances of
Tucs sanity check of MoD requirements/picking up practical issues with the design solutions by those people "in the know" within Industry reduces.
I've seen some howlers which have, sadly, cost someone something (nothing quite like the C130 dipping Sonar tho!) - which will inevitably lead back to the tax payer. Often, Industry genuinely thinks it knows what something means - but the assumptions are not based on experience, just hear-say. Inevitably, missmatches occur. This is not helped by people on the MoD side also seeming not to be well versed in some of this things they are asked to do. Deliberate deception? Actually, I've found (usually) everyone genuinely wants to do their best but, when the blind are leading the blind, things will creep past. The solution is probably unaffordable/Holy Grail-type stuff. But "Risk" estimates should build this factor in somehow.
Does
H 'n' H have the answers? Hell, if you look at my Bank Balance, you'd realise not! I'd be a rich SOAB if I had!
