IMO the reason's and differences between WWII and now are political. During WWII we had a nation at war, today we have a military at war and I think that makes all the difference.

The DoD and service procurement system is completely broken IMO, but I don't know how to fix it without the political support. Without that support, all these other factors throw a wrench into the works: Defense industry consolidation and lobbying where only a few companies can do a lot of this stuff; the legal problems where procurement gets delayed time and again because the loser ends up suing or whining to the GAO. And then there are certain members of our political class who seem to value the economic impact of procurement more than actually fielding new equipment.

I applaud Sec. Gates on this issue, but frankly I don't think that much will change as long as the military is the only organization on a war footing.

Edit: I agree with MSG Proctor - we posted on top of each other.