(Army Times) Editorial: Time to get creative

[unhappycamper]

Time to get creative

Time will tell whether President-elect Barack Obama views various big-ticket defense programs as too costly for a nation in economic recession, or as valuable jobs programs amid rising unemployment.

Either way, a few developments of the past year show it’s possible to add capabilities in a down market, and that the best solutions need not come with the highest price tags.

In February, the cruiser Lake Erie used a modified Standard-3 missile to shoot down a disabled spy satellite 133 miles overhead. The missile, originally built to bring down other missiles, was modified in just three weeks.

Officials said the mission was undertaken for public safety reasons, but the introduction of a capability that might be used to take out enemy satellites was lost on no one. Yet neither should this lesson be lost: Look for new ways to use existing arms and gear before starting costly new efforts.

If missiles are the high end of this principle, the cows of Anbar are on the opposite end.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_editorial_creative_011909/%2e