What a Remarkably Unambitious Goal

After much study, the Congressionally mandated to review the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review has determined that it takes too long to develop and deploy new weaopons, and so there should be a 7 year limit to developing weapons systems:

To avoid this problem in the future, Perry and co-chair Steven Hadley want defense contractors to be held to a tight five to seven year development phase. "Past experience indicates that, with proper management authority and accountability, it is possible to deliver relevant military capabilities for current operations in weeks and months, and to deliver longer-term and broader increments of military capability in 5 to 7 years," noted the pair in the report. "The 5- to 7-year time span is consistent with the march of technology, changes in the operational environment, and changes in operational needs to shape and respond to that environment."

Sorry, but that is at least twice as long as it should be.

This is a remarkably timid conclusion, kind of like saying that you should not exceed 70 mph in a school zone.