Defense Tech has an article Border Tech Upgrade that discusses the high cost of border patrol technology in relation to its cost-effectiveness. In one spot, Noah Shachtman cites Christian Beckner’s calculation that the cost to apprehend an illegal immigrant via a unmanned aerial vehicle is $7,808. That compares (very roughly) to the Border Patrol’s cost-per-apprehension of $1,166. (based on a $1.4 billion annual budget and 1.2 million apprehensions in 2005).
Anyone who has a garage full of once-cool but now useless tools understands how this happens. After all, every home repair is just an opportunity to buy another tool.
But take a look at this report, Bringing Defense into the Information Economy, that suggests that because defense systems are so complex and the suppliers so few, the sector isn’t reaping the economic gain from IT that you see in other industries – like manufacturing or finance.
As general IT costs decline and the IT content of military capabilities grows, there should be downward pressure on total defense costs. Instead, defense is paying lead systems integrators more for management services associated with the use IT in military systems, which may account for the lost economies from IT in defense. In turn, these costly management services reinforce the lead systems integrators’ position as principal agents, limiting competition and harming defense economics.
It’s an interesting idea. I’ll go back and read it more carefully.
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