I just did at the start of today after hearing about Bolton,..
The problem is, it IS rocket science. You know when you give your buddy shit and say "Hey man, it's not rocket science", well this IS rocket science, and it's expensive as hell. Additionally, there is an ocean of government personnel who are dumb dumb dumb who have complete control over what it is you're doing. It's even worse when upper level military members (Generals and Admirals) are involved because they're so used to demanding that when they start demanding things, their demands violate physical laws, and in some cases are pure fantasy. Another problem are beltway bandits, companies like Mitre. They're think tanks filled with engineers who have fantastic backgrounds in engineering and physics (theory) but zero experience in application, and it's they're job to tell the government if you're doing your job and if your products (whatever) are meeting "spec." Funny story, remember back in the 80s there was a huge story about $20K toilet seats in P3 aircraft? Well, the reason for the cost is that some a-hole from Mitre, or Mitre like company told the government what specs should be on that toilet seat (no I'm not kidding). The government counterpart submitted it and some Program manager on the Contractor side okay'd it because you don't want to tell your one customer "No can do..." Well, the requirement was for a toilet seat that could support a 300lb person taking a 3G impact. So, essentially Hulk Hogan coming off the top ropes.
The only way to meet spec was to make that toilet seat out of a billet of aircraft aluminum. Keep in mind that this was before the inexpensive CNC machines we have now. Thus, a 20K toilet seat was born. Here's the kicker. Upon taking the delivery of those planes, the first thing the Navy did was rip out the bathrooms so they could fill the plane with electronics. So it was pointless. There was the same issue with a hammer, only it had to sustain a 16G impact (someone fires it at a nail or rivet or whatever at 200mph). Why, because some jacktard on the Gov. side decided that 16Gs was a good round number. Still billeted composite steel it is!! There are oceans of examples of this. This is why defense costs so much. The DoD gives no Eff's about design because "We're paying you so much!!" but pay not attention to the actual demands, reasoning, and engineering. The USG does NOT have the best scientists or engineers. Most of them are referred to as "...a most cunning sort of moron."
Anyhow, don't knee jerk. The budgets are set for defense for 2019. DoD budgets are set for the following year by August of the previous year so budgets for 2019 were set in August of 2017.
The whole "Military Industrial Complex" thing is a load of crap. The profit margins are fantastically small, and the government is as wasteful as it comes. Right now I can point to at least 5 large unguarded fenced in bases in Afghanistan, the size of the entire Gillette stadium area from the stadium to Bass Pro, that are PACKED with brand new plastic stickers still on them F150s, Vans, Tractors, Helicopters of all sorts, medical equipment, ambulances, water purification systems (like 25K gal per day systems), weapons of any and all sorts - small arms to outright gun and missile batteries, portable air traffic control radars, comms systems...you name, they have it, and it's all rotting in Afgahnistan. What's not rotting is being commandeered by any and every extremist group out there.
Put your money somewhere else, anywhere else.
If you're worried about nuclear war and intercontinental ballistic missile defense, I could talk to you about weeks regarding that and why, when push comes to shove, it's all a jobs program built on fantasy.
...Defense, it's kind of what I do (radar, all kinds, soup to nuts)
Sometimes, actually often, investing is knowing what others will do. Others meaning big funds. Their purchases are what move stocks. I buy for the short term and will hold this only as long as it goes up. I will move my auto sell stop order up every day.
Now if I could nail a deer as well as I called that, I would be a truly happy man!
LOL