falcon900
I tend to agree, but I think I'd start with basics, like insisting on commonality at equipment level across our Services. We have aircraft where 50% of the cost is in the avionics. I mentioned a £130k radio example earlier. One reason it was so expensive was it was built to an RN spec, which needed (among other things) a specific Rx Only frequency band and very stiff harmonic rejection figures. The RAF and Army didn't need this (or thought they didn't) so went off on their own. Had they been told to use the RN spec, the unit cost would have plummeted. And embarrassment avoided years later when they were forced to nick RN radios from store.
This all about Requirements setting, which is something we do very poorly. My very last job before retiring was being handed a spec the Army thought very difficult to attain. I had a year or so to go, and they said if I delivered by then, that's as much as they could expect. The solution was already in service with the RN and RAF, trials took place the following week, and 15 sets (more than needed) were deployed to Afghanistan a week later. I'm afraid that is all too common - except the bit about knowing what's already in service. We have entire project teams reinventing decades-old wheels. The waste is astronomical.