“Maybe this is the way ahead, cut out the customer from the decision making”.
That’s precisely what the MoD want, I believe. They’re not allowed to “solutionise” anymore by specifying what they want. In turn, this leads to (a) further dumbing down, as the people capable of specifying are considered dinosaurs and ignored, and (b) an inability to act as an intelligent customer.
While not wishing to excuse some of the acquisition blunders of the past, many stem from politics. But the above policy has resulted in a noticeable increase in real schoolboy howlers which are wasting hundreds of millions (and that’s just on a single project I could mention). The outcomes are mixed. Some companies simply deliver the wrong thing in ignorance. Some knowingly deliver the wrong thing, and stand back waiting for the blank cheque to fix it. Others try to educate the MoD. They’re the ones who suffer.