[Virginia Ridgerunner]

There are two parallel trends that have finally converged and resulted in these disasters:

1) Too much industry consolidation has eliminated competition and driven aircraft development and production costs into the stratosphere. Nowadays, only Lockheed, Northrup, and Boeing are left, leaving DoD no alternatives except foreign companies, which are no-goes politically and from a National security standpoint.

2) The Armed Services, following the USAF’s model, consciously and deliberately closed most of their in-house RDT&E laboratories, thereby eliminating quality control on DoD’s end and losing decades worth of institutional military engineering expertise.

The F-22 an F-35 programs are the end result of these short-sighted policies. The military and defense industry is now reaping what is has sewn over the past 18 years.

[Terpfen]

The military and defense industry is now reaping what is has sewn over the past 18 years.

Sown, not sewn. The expression is a farming reference--"sow the fields"--not a tailoring reference--"Sew this button back on my shirt, will you?"

This has been your daily Grammar Nazi update flash.

[PhiKapMom]

Absolutely correct! Too much consolidation!