So I'm doing some research on military procurement and total vehicles. I'm trying to figure out what the Army, Navy , Marines and Air Force buy and how much (count rather than revenue). I know this is (mostly) public info from the budget. Does anyone know of any good, comprehensive sources to find the total number of vehicles, by type, the government procures? Thanks a lot.
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Re: Bleg: Military Procurement
Could you be a bit more precise regarding the information you seek? For example, what sort of vehicles? On an annual basis or, say, on average over a five year period?
The answer, I fear, is in any case that you can't find those numbers except as approximations. Too much is buried in other budgets, supplemental appropriations, etc.
Still, the places I'd try first would be the Government Accountability Office, see if they have a recent audit of DoD vehicle procurement.
Failing that, there's the Army Material Command (the Army is so far and away the largest of the uniform services that if you had a good number for them you could just ballpark say an additional 20% for the other services combined and not be too far off -- unless, of course, you were counting naval vessels as vehicles). And don't rule out a congressional constituent request. Ask one or all of your congressional misrepresentatives if there have been any recent congressional studies, etc. on topic.
"love is like porn, you know" -- Ali
Re: Bleg: Military Procurement
Janes and the wargaming people like Dunnigan usually have this sort of information
Re: Bleg: Military Procurement
All types of vehicles; aircraft, armored and ships. Either time period would be fine. I don't really need exact numbers, just "good enough".
Thanks for the tips, I'll check them out.
If you don't want to be arrested by the Park Police, don't go to the Jefferson Memorial.
Re: Bleg: Military Procurement
Okay, well, a few more pointers may help. First, although I forget what the dollar threshold is, capital expenditures typically require line item appropriations, so the defense appropriations and authorizations acts and supplemental appropriations acts will typically specify how much money is to be spent on how many surface ships, submersibles, aircraft (of various sorts) etc.
And for the purely military vehicles of any sort, don't forget Janes. Tracking military vehicles (and their stated, if not actual, expense) is a bit of a hobby for many and Janes is one of their principal sources of information.
"love is like porn, you know" -- Ali
Re: Bleg: Military Procurement
I second using Janes. You may also find some stuff at www.fas.org, the website of the Federation of American Scientists. It's a CIA front, and has a good amount of open-source stuff on various conventional and non-conventional military capabilities.
"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind... I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.."-Emerson