More cancelled modernization projects and more bureaucracy

Defense and dual-use texhnologies

Good morning,

The Army has canceled its third modernization priority effort, the Lower-Tier Future Interceptor.  The LTFI joins the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) and the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) in the scrapheap.  These programs are part of the Army's '31+4' modernization priorities that it established in 2017, and their cancellation recognizes specific challenges in building a future force: namely cost overruns (LTFI), obsolescence (FARA), and technical challenges (ERCA).  The FARA and ERCA programs can be made up for in continued investment in long-range, one-way attack drones and advanced missiles (especially a low-cost cruise missile, that nobody is building--not even Anduril).  The justification for cancelling LTFI was cost.  That's fair.  Instead, the Army is choosing to invest more into the legacy Patriot system, buying additional Patriot Advanced Capability Increment 3 (PAC-3) missiles.  Each missile costs an estimated $4M and it should be noted tha…