I can see that procuring, say, 'Giant Viper' was rocket science. I can appreciate that when buying very high cost equipment items which are expected to have a long service life, the long-lead procurement cycle is difficult to avoid. I can even half understand that when buying, say, a new rifle, there's plenty opf scope for buying the wrong one, or for ending up with a weapon whose development does not go quite as planned.
But why does it have to be so difficult to buy a Squaddie the best possible boots or a decent rucksack?