The American edition of The National Interest has devoted its readers to how the Pentagon throws taxpayers money into the air. The publication lists a list of the five most disastrous types of weapons, the development of which the US Department of Defense spent about $ 30 billion from the country's budget.
- In the distant years of the Cold War, the development of the self-guided anti-tank element BAT (Brilliant Anti-Tank) was carried out with enthusiasm. The project involved the creation of a cassette warhead with BAT elements for ATACMS missiles launched from the M270 artillery system. According to the military, one such rocket could destroy a whole company of tanks. But with the end of the Cold War, the project was suspended, and in 2003 it was closed, despite spending 2.2 billion dollars;
- The reconnaissance and combat helicopter RAH-66 Comanche, a prototype of which took off in 1996. Despite the fact that he fully met all the requirements of the time, was too expensive. As a result, the work on the helicopter was curtailed in 2004, although the total amount spent on Comanche funds at that time amounted to $ 7.9 billion;
- 155mm caliber howitzer Crusader. He was supposed to replace the M109 artillery system in the army. Its rate of fire reached 10 rounds per minute, the range - more than 40 km. But the main problem was in the mass. The howitzer weighed 43 tons. Plus, it required a separate transport for the transport of ammunition weighing 36 tons. Despite the characteristics, the military flatly refused such a heavy howitzer and in 2002 the project was closed. Costs amounted to 2.2 billion dollars;
- Creating a promising military vehicles FCS (Future Combat Systems), launched in 2003 was very ambitious. As a result, these machines were to completely transform the US Army. As part of the program, a project of an ultra-modern "tank of the future" was developed on the basis of a common tracked chassis. It cost the budget $ 18.1 billion, after which the Ministry of Defense suddenly closed the project and ordered to focus on upgrading the old combat vehicles instead of developing new ones;
- The program of combat vehicles GCV (Ground Combat Vehicles) from 2009. The main goal of the program was to become a new modern battle tank, but something went wrong, and as a result of the design, a combat vehicle weighing about 60 tons turned out, which categorically did not suit the military. In 2014, work on the program was stopped at the request of Congress, but the military had already spent more than a billion dollars on it.
