Pentagon Dysfunction Reveals Cracks in US War Machine (1)

It was envisioned as the centerpiece of a $200 billion program revolutionizing how the US Army would fight. Now it’s languishing in storage in Virginia, a 25-ton symbol of the malaise that lies at the nexus of the Pentagon and the defense industry.

The Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C), a self-propelled 155mm howitzer on tank tracks, was integral to Army plans to develop the kind of high-tech system that would help offset the numerical advantages of a peer like China or Russia in a future conflict.

It was part of an ambitious concept to replace combat units with a family of ground and air vehicles, both manned and ...